Moroccan Salt Cured Lemon Help

[EatingBen]

Hey guys, need a small amount of help. 

 

About 6 ish months ago I was given a pile of lemons that I decided that since I couldn’t turn it all into lemon curd I’d use a few and make cured lemons. 

 

I then promptly forgot about them in the back of the cupboard (in plain sight) 

 

not it appears the lemon juice and salt has created a jell and I mean that rather literally the lemons are encased in a jell of lemon juice and salt and can’t be poured out of the jar. The top oxidised but the smell is lemon and the ones under the top are still nicely yellow. 

 

I’ve never had lemons do that, I’m assuming it’s the pectin in the lemons but I’m hesitant to eat them. 

 

Thoughts? I’ve had Moroccan lemons before and they’ve always been liquid never jelled. 

[lemniscate]

Someone posted about that on Reddit a few months back.

[EatingBen]

42 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

Someone posted about that on Reddit a few months back.

He ain’t wrong, it’s delicious far better then any Moroccan lemons I get at the store!

[Vapre]

While we're talking preserved lemons, I have little to no experience with them and want to start. I've read in various places where some folks use just the preserved skin while others use the whole preserved wedge. Pretty much everyone agrees that it's best to rinse it off first due to saltiness. What's everyone's experience with this?

[Smithy]

I have also read that one should simply use the rind, but I generally use the entire piece of lemon (pulp and rind, but no seeds if possible). A little goes a long way, mind: I don't rinse, and so there's a lot of salt. There's also a lot of nice lemony flavor.

 

For more information there's this older topic in the Middle East and Africa forum. It could surely use a boost: Preserved Lemons.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have only cooked with purchased Moroccan preserved lemons, never made preserved lemons myself.  However all the preserving recipes I've seen call for whole lemons, not wedges nor cut up lemons.  @Wolfert and her books have much useful information.

 

Some Moroccan tagine recipes call for using the whole preserved lemon, skin and flesh and all -- others just the skin.  In which case take a spoon and scrape out the lemon pulp.

 

If it helps I found it was less expensive to buy preserved lemons from Morocco than to buy American lemons in the supermarket which would then need to be preserved.  Plus, the ones from Morocco were the correct variety of lemon.  If you have a lemon grove in the back yard your mileage may vary.

 

Indeed, salt preserved lemons are salty.  Consult the recipe.

 

[scubadoo97]

13 hours ago, EatingBen said:

Hey guys, need a small amount of help. 

 

About 6 ish months ago I was given a pile of lemons that I decided that since I couldn’t turn it all into lemon curd I’d use a few and make cured lemons. 

 

I then promptly forgot about them in the back of the cupboard (in plain sight) 

 

not it appears the lemon juice and salt has created a jell and I mean that rather literally the lemons are encased in a jell of lemon juice and salt and can’t be poured out of the jar. The top oxidised but the smell is lemon and the ones under the top are still nicely yellow. 

 

I’ve never had lemons do that, I’m assuming it’s the pectin in the lemons but I’m hesitant to eat them. 

 

Thoughts? I’ve had Moroccan lemons before and they’ve always been liquid never jelled. 

,

 

pretty much how I make preserved lemons.  And I currently have an abundance of lemons so good timing on the post.  Now I have another alternative to juicing them.   And my current preserved lemon and lime stash is slim and has been in the fridge too long.   Time to start fresh

[lemniscate]

I have a prolific lemon tree and I made a large jar of preserved lemons early last year.   Somewhere on egullet there was a post about making a puree or paste of salted lemons.  I've done that with half of my jar (just blitzed it smooth in the food processor) and I used it as the salt in dishes I make, I've even started using it in my bread baking.   It works really good for salad dressings and aioli and as a rub.   It's just so much easier to deal with than the whole lemon pieces.

 

One of the unconventional uses for me is salty lemonade.  I like the Vietnamese salty lemon and lime drinks, so I add the paste to my lemonade to replicate.  I smear it on the edges of my margarita glass as a sub for the salt dip.  It's a revelation to the margarita, salty and lemony on the edge of the glass.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Here's more information from the preserved lemons topic:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/8816-preserved-lemons/?tab=comments#comment-76944

 

The Moroccan preserved lemons I have bought are the little ones @Wolfert mentions a few posts down.

 

[Anna N]

I am usually patient enough to read through all posts including those that are linked. But I’m not that patient today so if this appears elsewhere then I apologize.

 

 Here is Paula’s preserved lemon recipe for the impatient ones among us.