There are lemons and there are meyer lemons. They are in season in January and February. To me, meyer lemons are a class by themselves – hauntingly aromatic, sour and yet slightly sweet. I simply slice them thinly right into salads, with skin and all. I would like to add meyer lemon rinds into our local tuna tartar dish with say sauce, green onion and a dash of sesame seed oil. I like the tuna tartar with toasty baguette slices or make it into a cone with nori and rice. A crisp, minerally Champagne
Sometimes, I like to simply finely chop meyer lemon with parsley and shallots. Add some salt and good quality olive oil. A few raisons can be added to balance the salt and sour. Spoon the mixture over grilled or pan fried fish or roasted chicken.
To extend the pleasures of short-lived season of meyer lemons, I like to preserve them. Simply cut them into halves or quarters, sprinkle about 1 table spoon of kosher salt per lemon, pack them into sterilized jars, and squeeze a few more meyer lemons to top it off. I like to keep the preserved lemons in the refrigerator rather than out in the room temperature. I think the cool preservation keeps them aromatic and crunchy. The preserved lemons should be ready to enjoy in about 1 month.
The preserved meyer lemons are, of course, classic in Moroccan cooking. One of the best books is by Kitty Morse – ‘Cooking at the Kasbah’. Moroccan dishes are very wine friendly, least to my palette.
Meyer lemons are available at specialty shops, including this one.
