Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Lemons and Limes
Fruits are for eating; lemons and limes are for seasoning, like a pinch of salt or a grinding
of pepper - or, perhaps more to the point, a splash of vinegar. Fruits are sweet and seasonal;
lemons and limes are sour to the point of puckery, and you would no more expect to find
them missing from the grocery store than you would onions or garlic. But those lemons and
limes we so thoughtlessly squeeze onto a slab of broiled salmon are grown, not manufac-
tured - no matter what you might think when you see them lined up so perfectly at the gro-
cery. In fact, they qualify as heirloom fruits. The two main varieties of each that are grown
today were introduced more than one hundred years ago.
Lemons and limes are thought to have originated in the same part of Asia, but today
lemons are preferred in areas where the weather is milder - most of Europe, for example
- while limes are preferred where the weather is hot and humid - the Caribbean basin and
Southeast Asia.
Lemons are among the most ancient of the citrus hybrids. They probably first appeared
in the foothills of the Himalayas, but records indicate that they reached the Mediterranean
basin as early as the first century A.D. They were among the fruits spread by the Arabs dur-
ing their domination of southern Europe. Lemons reached the New World on Columbus's
second voyage, in 1493.
Most of the lemons you'll find in the grocery store today are either Eurekas or Lisbons.
They look pretty much the same - lemon varieties are notoriously difficult to tell apart, even
for the people who grow them. The only real clues are that the skin of the Eureka is slightly
ridged and a little rougher than that of the Lisbons. The best way to know which type you're
buying is by the time of year. Lisbons, which originally came from Portugal to the United
States in the middle of the nineteenth century, are cool-weather lemons and are harvested
in the winter and spring. Eurekas were discovered in 1858 in Los Angeles, where they ori-
ginally sprang from seeds of an Italian variety. They handle the heat better than Lisbons
and are picked in the spring and summer, but they can hang on the tree for months after
ripening and often are available even in the heart of the Lisbon harvest.
The Bearss, discovered in a Florida grove in the 1950s, is the lemon of choice in the
small Florida lemon industry. Of more interest to cooks is the Meyer lemon, which isn't
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