Discovered something new (to us anyway) at the store the other day...the "sweet lemon". We stood in the store and did a quick Google search to make sure it was a real thing and not a misprint and also to make sure it wasn't a "Meyer Lemon" (which can be slightly sweet but are still acidic like a lemon). Sure enough, it's a real fruit and so we bought one.
They have a wonderful sweet floral sent from the exterior. If you look at the picture above, you can see the familiar yellow of a lemon has a bit of an orange tint to it. Slicing it open it looks like a lemon. But taste wise, wow it was SO good. It really was a "sweet lemon"! Not super sweet, but not at all sour.
After a little research, there are several varieties of this low acidity, sweet fruit. It is not a true lemon but believed to have been a natural mutation of two citrus species a few hundred years ago. They are native to Asia but have been grown around the world for centuries where they are also known as "Limettas", "Shirin" and "Musambi". There are several varieties with names, Ponderosa Sweet Lemon, Millsweet, Persian Sweet Lemon, Limu Shirin and Moroccan Limetta. They say that the tree is prolific and almost everbearing throughout the year. We're sure they are freeze sensitive like all citrus.
Since we only had one, we figured "let's try it in some iced tea?". SO good. Squeezed a bit in and it sweetened it slightly and gave a great florally, lemon flavor. We could totally see them being used to make a sort of lemonade without needing sugar. Fun fact, after they are cut, in about one to two hours, they become more sour like a lemon...but if you put them "in" something, they stay sweet.
Hmm, off to Google to see who sells them...
Love the Meyer Lemons.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can freeze or you can Dehydrate Citrus fruit such as Limes, Lemons, Oranges, Grapefruit, etc.
If you freeze citrus you won't be able to slice them once thawed; they will be rather mushy.
https://www.wikihow.com/Freeze-Lemons
Have a wonderful weekend
Thanks for this. Citrus powder sounds wonderful for adding to things.
DeleteIn FL, citrus comes in in a rush. One trick is when lemons come in, squeeze the juice into ice cube trays. One squares about 1 tbsp or so of juice. When frozen, put them in a ziplock bag. When you need some lemon, pull out a square, throw in in the pan, and you're good. You can also use them in ice tea, and as they melt, you get more lemon flavor instead of watery tea.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great idea. Never thought about that. What a cool idea. You could do this with any citrus juice. I personally love limes in my tea, lime juice cubes would be great. Thank you!
DeleteDid you save the seed to see if you can grown one?
ReplyDeleteYes, in fact, they are currently trying to do their thing. I"ve been taking pics of for a future post. Stay tuned.
DeleteFreeze sensitive? I have one word for that--orangerie...lol. I am trying to embed that word in your brain so that you will soon have the idea as your own.
ReplyDeleteAnd we love it! Thank you! :-)
DeleteA sweet lemon - these sound very intriguing. I’ll have to look for them in the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get one to plant but with the bad freezes we’ve had in recent years, I’m not going to chance it. It broke my heart to lose my big, beautiful Navel orange tree and also my huge Meyer lemon tree to these freezes.
We're so sorry you lost your trees. Citrus is so amazing to have and having them grow in your yard for free is a wonderful thing. We might have to keep ours smallish and move them seasonally into a greenhouse (or orangerie!).
DeleteThese were really good. So unique.
Save the seeds and plant in a pot. It will make a pretty little tree and may bloom after a few years.
ReplyDeleteWorking on that, taking pics along the way to create a post about it. Fingers crossed!
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