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Sweet Lemons

fifi

By fifi
in Kitchen Consumer

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tanabutler

tanabutler

Posted
Posted

More than anything except the extraordinary fragrance, the deep yellow of ripe Meyer lemons is their predominant characteristic.

This is as close to life-sized as I could get, and the colors are, believe it or not, actually more saturated than this.

It is usually true that Meyer lemons are thinner-skinned than the Eureka, but as you can see here, the lemon on the lower left is not smooth, indicating a thicker skin. This can result from seasonal differences, different watering periods affecting unripe lemons, etcetera. The lemon in the center is the best example of a perfect Meyer lemon.

My Meyer lemon tree is bent to the ground, so laden with fruit—the most it's ever borne. It is a treasure, indeed.

memesuze

memesuze

Posted
Posted

well, for sure, what Fiesta was selling wasn't a Meyer - shaped like a small flattish grapefruit with no nipple on the ends. I'm going out to San Francisco at the beginning of January - will look around - and taste - there.

marie-louise

marie-louise

Posted
Posted

Tana-What a beautiful picture-you should use that as your avatar.

Another Meyer lemon fan here, my last yard had such a prolific tree that I couldn't possibly use or give away all of them. Now I have a baby tree that "only" puts out a dozen or two a year. I treasure them, everything I use them for tastes so good.

Memesuze, even if they are not Meyer lemons, chances are they are something good that you will enjoy cooking with. Make some mayonaise, salad dressing, or a buerre blanc sauce, or squeeze it straight over fish or vegetables.

Jensen

Jensen

Posted
Posted

Tana, thanks for the info on the reason for the thicker skins. My lemons have always been thick-skinned so I always wondered about the "thin-skinned" description of Meyer lemons.

Our Meyer lemon tree is in the front garden and, every year at this time, we wrap it in white mini-lights. (Okay, we leave the lights on year-round and, every year at this time, we plug it in.) It's truly beautiful at night; the lemons look like luminescent decorations.

Jen Jensen

memesuze

memesuze

Posted
Posted

Meyers arrived at Central Market today - 99 cents each - definitely different from the "sweet" lemons that started this thread. I plucked one from the box, and have scratched its surface, sniffed it, and then cut into it. Ah, now I understand - sort of a lemony orange - like a very sour orange, but definitely a lemon flavor there. And they all looked like Tana's pictures.

Now I just have to figure out why I wanted them in the first place and whether it's really worth 99 cents apiece if I need a bunch. May not be making preserved lemons at that price.

  • 3 weeks later...
badthings

badthings

Posted
Posted

I saw the sweet lemons at a Fiesta in Houston. They looked a lot like the aforementioned sweet limes of California, but I was not able to try them as I was on vacation. (Even more tragically, I could not try the romeritos, which I'd never seen before). Fiesta's produce section was very exciting.

--

Max

der lieber Gott steckt im Detail

  • 2 weeks later...
badthings

badthings

Posted
Posted

I just talked to the Kennedy farms guy (great citrus, esp. page mandarins) at the farmer's market, and he said that sweet lemons only grow in "region 16" and hotter. That means Fresno-south. Big in Ventura County. The trees die at 30º F.

He also mentioned a pink lemon that is too frost-sensitive to grow up here, for fellow connoisseurs of citrus exotica.

--

Max

der lieber Gott steckt im Detail

kpurvis

kpurvis

Posted
Posted

On the subject of citrus, I just got back from a trip to my family's home in West Palm Beach, where I always pick Meyer lemons and real Key limes from the trees my late father planted.

On the way back, we stopped at one of those tourist fruit stands (only because I had promised a bag of oranges to my neighbor. Well, OK, also to look for Florida ceramic kitsch to add to my collection. But I swear, I never even glanced at the 13-foot alligator.)

They were selling a new citrus strain I hadn't seen: Red navels. (OK, Perlow, have your way with THAT phrase. :laugh: ) Anyway, they are very sweet navel oranges with red flesh, more like a red grapefruit in color than a blood orange. They were delicious.

If you're going to be in South Florida in the new few weeks, also look for the honeybell oranges, which are now all the rage among the citrus afficionadoes.

Kathleen Purvis, food editor, The Charlotte (NC) Observer

  • 4 years later...
abooja

abooja

Posted
Posted

Bumping up this thread to ask if one should bother to purchase a small meyer lemon tree if one lives in a rental in Central New Jersey? I have $176 worth of credit at NapaStyle.com and don't see much else within my price-range worth purchasing. I've got a sunny front porch the pot can sit on, and I figured I'd bring it indoors in the off-season. Will such a plant ever bear fruit or is this a total waste of $99?

If not, I'm thinking about some blue steel pans or a gel kitchen mat, but can't decide if the pans are a worthwhile purchase either.

Thanks for any help!

-- Lisa

My sad, little eGullet blog

KarenDW

KarenDW

Posted
Posted
Bumping up this thread to ask if one should bother to purchase a small meyer lemon tree if one lives in a rental in Central New Jersey?

Depends on whether there are any bees nearby which can pollinate. Otherwise, you may get lots of flowers, but never any fruit. I live in a highrise, and haven't quite figured out how to get fruit from my apple trees... other than by planting 2 of them, and personally moving the pollen between the blossoms. :-)

My vote goes for the gel mat(s); two small ones are more versatile than one large.

Karen Dar Woon

abooja

abooja

Posted
Posted (edited)
Depends on whether there are any bees nearby which can pollinate. Otherwise, you may get lots of flowers, but never any fruit. I live in a highrise, and haven't quite figured out how to get fruit from my apple trees... other than by planting 2 of them, and personally moving the pollen between the blossoms. :-)

My vote goes for the gel mat(s); two small ones are more versatile than one large.

Hmm, I didn't consider the pollination factor. I was anxious to buy and went ahead and ordered the tree anyway, and a fish pan. If I only get sweet-smelling flowers, that'll be cool too. We live in the midst of lots of trees and birds, so I'm hoping that will up the ante in my favor. I'm pretty sure I saw a bee the other day... :unsure:

Thanks for your help. I've been wanting a gel mat for the longest time, but stupidly didn't think to buy two smaller ones rather than the one large one, which was impractical for my setup. Next time.

Edited by abooja (log)

-- Lisa

My sad, little eGullet blog

Nyleve Baar

Nyleve Baar

Posted
Posted

Just noticed this thread. I bought half dozen sweet lemons a couple of weeks ago at a Middle Eastern grocery store in Toronto. I was told by a woman who was picking through the pile that she just eats them straight - they're that sweet. Anyway, when I got them home I discovered that they have almost no flavour at all and absolutely no aroma in the peel. In fact, it's sort of a nearly soapy smell - I grated one to use in, I can't remember what, but it was like adding nothingness. Total waste of $$$. The taste of the fruit isn't even as flavourful as a mediocre orange - what could possibly be the point of such a thing? I've never been up close and personal with a Meyer lemon but from the description, this is definitely not one.

hummingbirdkiss

hummingbirdkiss

Posted
Posted

Nyleve Baar

the Meyer lemon has a great deal more flavor and aroma that the Persian sweet lemons ...

I agree I was disapointed tasting a Persian sweet lemon ..very watery and not much flavor...but then I sliced the rest up added them to a bottle of vodka (because they were expensive) and somehow the vodka found a flavor I missed tasting them ...so not a total loss

if you find a Meyer lemon try it they are much better than what you tasted

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

Nyleve Baar

Nyleve Baar

Posted
Posted

Ha. Interesting. I will slice up the rest of what I have - maybe 2 or 3 still in a bag in the fridge - and do something vodka-ish with them. Good idea. Thanks for that.

judiu

judiu

Posted
Posted

My boss's young'un, about 3, loves to eat regular lemons, but makes the "yuck" face between bites. I sent a Meyer lemon home with him (the boss) for his young'un to try, an it was reported back that the kid loved it!

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

denise_jer

denise_jer

Posted
Posted

I don't know if this helps or not, but we have a lime tree that we bring indoors for most of the year (we are in Minnesota), and we have limes on there all the time. I don't know how it would get pollenated, but it is by far the best $10 we've ever spent. It just got moved to the back yard, and has about 10 itty bitty limes on it right now.

persiancook

persiancook

Posted
Posted

If they are Persian sweet lemons, you may want to try keeping a few of them unrefrigerated for a while. The flavor intensifies as the skin dries out. You end up with an unusually mild bittersweet citrus. Cut them into wedges and eat them immediately, otherwise they become bitter.

The thin-skinned smaller ones are usually more flavorful and fragrant.

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