Bergamot

[docsconz]

I recently got a few bergamots with a shipment of citrus from California. Any suggestions for using them in cooking. The peels are extremely aromatic, while the fruit is somewhat grapefruit like. How would you use them?

[slkinsey]

Make cocktails with the juice. Make bergamotcello with the peels.

[docsconz]

Thanks, Sam, but what about cooking with it?

[emsny]

One of the best things to do with bergamots is make marmelade out of them; this is done in southern Italy, and it is quite remarkable. I wish I could tell you just how to do it in a way that will preserve their extraordinary aroma, but I can't. Great served with foie gras. In fact (since I gather from your comment that you weren't thinking of confectionary), you might try some sort of chutney, which again would be dandy with foie gras. Who supplied these, by the way? I tried to get some a couple of years ago but David Karp had evidently cornered the market.

[slkinsey]

Thanks, Sam, but what about cooking with it?

Well, I'd think you could use it any way you might use either sour orange or lemon juice. You could use it to marinade chicken or pork before roasting, for example. You could use it in a vinaigrette or squeeze it over cooked foods. You could, I suppose, make a bergamot meringue pie.

But, to be honest, most of these uses strike me as ones which will obscure the special taste.

One thought I had was something like pollo alla Francese: pound pieces of chicken breast, veal or pork into thin paillards the approximate size of your palm; dredge in flour, egg, flour, egg, flour and then fry until golden; wipe the pan and add some butter and paper thin slices of bergamot orange; fry until orange slices are soft and lightly caramelized, and reserve; add bergamot juice, white wine and chicken stock to the pan, and bring to a light simmer; mount sauce with butter; add back the meat and bergamot slices and warm through; remove to platter (the bergamot slices will be edible).

[petite tête de chou]

Perhaps a citrus sauce over deep fried/grilled/oven fried fish, such as bass? Smelts? Snapper?

Maybe a spicy, citrus dipping sauce for fried prawns?

[ScorchedPalate]

Make cocktails with the juice.  Make bergamotcello with the peels.

←

How funny, I just spent the last hour doing exactly, precisely that. I'm sitting here sipping my Friday After Five, taking a break from portioning out juice into an ice-cube tray.

~A

<edited for a cocktail-induced typo>

Edited January 16, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[docsconz]

I peeled and ate one earlier. The scent is wonderful and permeated the kitchen and my hands. It was worth buying them for that alone. I roasted some of the peels along with a lamb shank to no discernible effect. I actually have some bergamot marmalade from Sicily. It is wonderful. In fact that is what inspired me to get them (from Rising C Ranch ) in the first place.

[SobaAddict70]

Use them as sour oranges or lemons, or in pork dishes.

Infuse the peels in some tea, and use the tea as poaching liquid for prunes. You can add some mulled wine to the mix.

Soba

[slkinsey]

I peeled and ate one earlier. The scent is wonderful and permeated the kitchen and my hands. It was worth buying them for that alone. I roasted some of the peels along with a lamb shank to no discernible effect. I actually have some bergamot marmalade from Sicily. It is wonderful. In fact that is what inspired me to get them (from Rising C Ranch ) in the first place.

They sell bergamots? I don't see them listed on their web site. What are their prices for bergamots?

[docsconz]

I peeled and ate one earlier. The scent is wonderful and permeated the kitchen and my hands. It was worth buying them for that alone. I roasted some of the peels along with a lamb shank to no discernible effect. I actually have some bergamot marmalade from Sicily. It is wonderful. In fact that is what inspired me to get them (from Rising C Ranch ) in the first place.

They sell bergamots? I don't see them listed on their web site. What are their prices for bergamots?

←

They only have a limited supply. I believe all i could get was two pounds. Figuring in the direct cost of the fruit and the cost of shipping they are pretty expensive, although I don't have the actual cost handy.

[tanabutler]

Add the peels to a canister of sugar, to infuse it with the scent.

Oh, how I love the fragrance of bergamot: I have Earl Grey tea every single morning of my life.