Help: New quandry: Citrus/citron caviar

[John Talbott]

Yesterday, at Ze, Colette had a brochette of scallops with an intruiging bunch of beedy bubbles on top. We asked whaaaaa, and the most helpful waitfolk (cf here) produced both a cup of the teeny/tiny bursts of magnificence and the acorn-sized fruit they came from.

Ok, you ask, why don't I just call Pti up and ask? Ans: 1. I'm a guy, one doesn't ask. 2. I want to get a discussion going, and 3. This is more fun.

So, what is Citrus/citron caviar, where does one buy it (not in Bon Marche, les Halles de Montmartre or Monoprix, where the question is treated as if one is deranged) and is it grown in the US of A?

[Gifted Gourmet]

scroll down to the caviar citron ...

Edited October 19, 2007 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[slkinsey]

Sounds like finger limes.

Rather than having the standard citrus interior, they are filled with tiny individual cells that can look a bit like caviar.

[polly]

I was thinking finger limes as well, they are beautiful for scattering.

[John Talbott]

So far 3-0, but thanks folks. This is a green acorn sized fruit with teeny/tiny white beads of bursting beauty inside, only slightly citrus tasting. Not pink and not real caviar doctored up. Sorry.

My, oh my, eGullet can't do it in 3 hours, hummmm, maybe I should switch to the Food Channel.

Keep trying, (Pti, where are you when we need you?).

Tmrw, only 50% strike, no rain and with France-Argentina, we'll eat beef and camembert (to keep on topic).

[slkinsey]

Finger limes come in all different colors, including green, and some of them could be described as "acorn sized." What color were the cells you saw?

[John Talbott]

Finger limes come in all different colors, including green, and some of them could be described as "acorn sized."  What color were the cells you saw?

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White or translucent.

[slkinsey]

Anything like the picture accompanying this article?

Edited October 19, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[John Talbott]

Anything like the picture accompanying this article?

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Spot on. Top one is it. Thanks.

[Dorie Greenspan]

I just had citron caviar for the first time Thursday night at Olivier Roellinger's restaurant in Cancale. A small slice of the lime was served alongside three small oysters -- one plain and the other two flavored with spice blends. The outside of the lime was pink and green, the inside was pink and the waiter instructed us to make sure not to leave it on the plate because it was too good to send back to the kitchen. Of course, he was right.

We just got back and the first thing I did was to search online for the limes and -- bingo -- egullet!

Unless I read too quickly, no one has posted a source for these, right?

[Adam Balic]

They are an Australia native. As far as I know they are only grown in Australia for the moment.

I have a small tree growing in the back yard, has just set fruit, but I think that I will strip all the immature fruit this year. There are also several other native citrus here, so I imagine that some of the these other species may become commercially available in the near future.