Preserved lemons revisited

A while ago, Celia (IIRC) was inquiring about preserved lemons. Recently, on a trip to Lyon, I took myself out to dinner at Tunisian/Moroccan restaurant close to my hotel. There, I ordered a "tagine de poulet aux citrons" that turned out to be chunks of chicken and several root vegetables cooked in a broth that contained a halved preserved lemon and about 20 cardamom pods. The resulting dish, served with a side of cous-cous, was without question one of the most aromatic dishes I've ever encountered. The steaming-hot broth was pungent with the preserved lemon flavor and cardamom, and was also fairly salty from the lemon, but didn't overpower the chicken and actually went fairly well with the Moroccan rosé I ordered. In all, this was probably one of the more memorable dishes I've tried in a long time.

Mark Lipton

Did you eat the lemon or just let it add flavor and aromas to the dish?

Sounds fun (except the chicken part ).

Personally I've enjoyed eating them (along with the Indian version of lemon/lime pickles) but sometimes when it's served as the whole/half lemon it can appear daunting.

I'm very excited and curious to find and use these lemons. I'm guessing "preserved" probably means dried or salted or pickle, but am not sure. Has anyone seen them in markets, stateside ? I don't recall seeing something like this before.

Do they impart a different character to dishes than fresh lemon pieces ?

I'm very excited and curious to find and use these lemons. I'm guessing "preserved" probably means dried or salted or pickle, but am not sure. Has anyone seen them in markets, stateside ? I don't recall seeing something like this before.

Do they impart a different character to dishes than fresh lemon pieces ?

In my experience, they're easier to make than they are to buy. The tricky part comes in not making many more jars of them than you can possibly use.

They're really good additions to many dishes, though. I believe there are several method of making them. The one listed here is close to what we've used with good results. Others may want to chime in with recipes they've tried.

Did you eat the lemon or just let it add flavor and aromas to the dish?

Sounds fun (except the chicken part ).

Personally I've enjoyed eating them (along with the Indian version of lemon/lime pickles) but sometimes when it's served as the whole/half lemon it can appear daunting.

There was so much lemon essence in the broth that I felt no compulsion to try the lemon itself. I'd guess that it might have been fairly mild, having had most of the essential oils extracted out of it, but I wasn't in a mood to investigate.

Mark Lipton

p.s. Judging from the menu, there aren't many N. African vegetarians, but I was in Lyon the Carnivorous, of course. My first encounter with a "salade Lyonnais" was enough to convince me of the futility of being a vegetarian there.

I'm very excited and curious to find and use these lemons. I'm guessing "preserved" probably means dried or salted or pickle, but am not sure. Has anyone seen them in markets, stateside ? I don't recall seeing something like this before.

Do they impart a different character to dishes than fresh lemon pieces ?

They are mostly salted. Here is a thread with Celia's recipe. And they do indeed impart different character to dishes, saltier and more intense than the fresh version.

Mark Lipton

%^)

One of the 70 or so lemon recipes on my website is a very easy recipe for Moroccan Preserved Lemons ...

http://www.associatedcitrus.com/recipes ... emons.html

Clink !

%^)