Synchronicity

So, yesterday, I wrote a post about how for the past three dark and drear Ohio winters, Meyer lemons have saved me from descending into the lifestyle of a dustbunny.

Then, I get up and look at the New York Times and lo and behold, I am not the only person in the world who is interested in the oddities in the lemon world. Apparently, growers in the US are taking up the cultivation of all sorts of different lemon varieties, including ones that are so sweet that even folks without a taste for the tang can eat them out of hand. There is even a great photograph of a really interesting variety with a green striped skin when it is immature, with fragrant pink flesh.

How neat is that.

Anyway, I understand that you have to register to read the article. If that gives you the heebie jeebies and you fear that spam will descend on your email box or Da Man will come and drag you away in the middle of the night because you are a food-obessessed weirdo who wants to take the world over one plate at a time just because you gave some information to the Times, frolic off to bugmenot and deal with your issues. Become unbugged and read that story.

And look at the pretty picture. Doesn’t that just make you want to know what they taste like? Can you imagine a pale pink lemon sorbet that doesn’t rely on food coloring to get that way? What about using some unripe ones to make little cups out of the skins in order to serve said sorbet.? Very pretty.

More later, probably on a completely different topic, because that is just how I am.

5 Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

1. Keeping up. I am reading Barbara, but considering my culinary ability, and in general, my lack of opinion on foodstuffs, save the, “DAMN that tastes good!” There’s little else I have to offer.

   Oh, and if you decide that you want to do training videos for Tigers and Strawberries, you know who to call. I also bet you I can get you a crew for dirt cheap if we get to eat everything after we wrap shooting! 😉

   Hope the packing/prep work is going well. Let us know if you need anything!

   -Dan

   Comment by Dan Trout — February 2, 2005 #

2. Fall and winter is Yuzu season in Japan and Yuzu rind especially is used in cooking and in the bath to brighten up cold days. A little rind in miso soup or nabe is just enough to remind you of summer. The juice is used to mix with soy sauce to make ponzu, also used to flavor everything from nabe to a cool block of tofu with a few scallions on top. And I can’t say enough about Yuzu baths!

   Why Yuzu reminds us of summer, when it is a fall/winter harvest, I can’t really say. Maybe it’s the touch of yellow.

   –Nicole

   Comment by Anonymous — February 2, 2005 #

3. Hey, Nicole.

   I haven’t tried a yuzu; they haven’t made it to Ohio that I know of yet, though they are on both coasts. I do like ponzu sauce, though I think here in the States it is usually made with orange juice or lemon or a combination of the two.

   It probably reminds you of summer because of the color. Yellow is a very summery, sunny color. Maybe it is something about the smell, too–scents are very evocative.

   Hey, Dan! Well, eventually, we are putting up a website–we will probably wait until we are in Athens. Video is a distinct possibility; I think it is a great idea.

   As for moving preparations–boy is there a long story to that. I should call you sometime and give you the latest. I just have to say–bizarre.

   Comment by Barbara Fisher — February 2, 2005 #

4. Hi Barbara,

   I’m not actually sure Yuzu are all that available on either of the coasts. A chef friend of mine from San Francisco who has just moved to Japan for the year is already trying to figure out how to bring a tree home with her because she can’t find Yuzu anywhere!

   I hope that you’re right about them being available, though, because I will miss them once I move back.

   -Nicole

   Comment by Anonymous — February 3, 2005 #

5. They may not be widely available, but they are out there; I have been reading about yuzu for a while. The New York Times did a piece on it–last year around this time, maybe? I also read about it in Fine Cooking Magazine a while back.

   So they are out there–just not in large quantities.

   Good luck importing a tree–the FDA and US Customs are -very- controlling about what plant matter can enter the country–especially when it comes to citrus. There are a lot of diseases that citrus trees can carry that could endanger the huge citrus industry in the US, so the likelihood of getting a yuzu tree or cutting into the US without a zillion permits from the FDA is highly unlikely.

   Comment by Barbara Fisher — February 3, 2005 #

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.