The Lemon Harvest

It’s been a good year for Lemons this year in Spain. Our lemon tree in the Saplings garden has had the branches straining under the wieght of the fruit. One benefit of the long hot summer we had. Year 7 just harvested the lemons and we literally had bags and bags of beautiful fragrant and, of course, 100% organic lemons. We left a basket on the table in reception for staff to help themselves - they all disappeared quickly enough, but we saved a box of lemons for a little project for next week…

Maybe you have a lemon tree in your garden too and are wondering what to do with a bumper crop? Why not join us in preserving the lemons Moroccan style using just the lemons, their juice and salt - nothing else! Then all you need to do is have some patience. The recipes might tell you that you can use the preserved lemons after 3 or 4 weeks, and you can. But leave them for 6 months and you will allow the fermentation process to transform the lemon skins into something truly unique. Here’s a recipe to follow. It really is so simple, and the results are amazing.

We’ve done this before and our personal tips are:

• You don’t need to keep the lemons in the fridge - in fact they are better kept in a cool dark cupboard

• You can keep preserved lemons for a long, long time. They improve with age. Morrocan families boast of their vintage preserved lemons which mature for several years.

• You can experiment using preserved lemons (and the juice which is full of flavour) in many different ways. Try adding some diced finely into hummus or baba ganoush. Try marinating fish with the juice, or adding to risotto, or a pasta sauce. Or you could make a classic Morrocan chicken Tagine and just glow with pride that your preserved lemons are homemade and organic!

Follow the link below for instructions:

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/