Limes

[Chris Amirault]

What's the story with limes? There seem to be wild inconsistencies in this staple citrus.

Take price. Here in the northeast, I can get ten for a dollar at the local Asian and Latino/a markets, but the local megamart (Stop n Shop, Shaw's) sells 'em two for a dollar, and Whole Paycheck has been known to ask .69 for a single fruit. Meanwhile, you can get twenty or thirty for a buck in Arizona.

And while I'm asking, why is it that some limes have a thin skin, little pith, and full, juicy interior, whereas others in the same bushel have thick skins and pith and are dry as a day-old Munchkin? I seem to remember that someone mentioned frozen limes in a recent thread; are some limes frozen at some stage of the harvest or distribution?

But it's all good. We have a dozen or two limes in the house at all times for larb, caipirinhas, grilled meats, you name it.

Tell me about limes. What do you use them for? Are they a staple in your house? What do they cost in your neck of the woods?

[Maison Rustique]

Can you make preserved limes, like with lemons?

[JAZ]

In the San Francisco Bay Area, I notice the same wild discrepancies in the price of limes. Fortunately for me, the produce store a couple of blocks from my house usually has them for 10-20 cents apiece (5-10 for a dollar). I can occasionally find them 20 for a dollar at the Hispanic markets. Two for a dollar is pretty standard at the big chain grocery stores, which is strange, because even the little corner market on my way home from work sells them for 35 cents or so.

Most of the limes I buy go into cocktails, although some of them make it into marinades, salsas and salad dressings. Sometimes I zest them before juicing and use the zest to make simple syrup.

[torakris]

I can find limes only at larger supermarkets here and even then they cost 200 yen (about $2) a piece!!

I try to pick them up at Costco where I can get them for the bargain price of $1 a piece....

I love limes, more than lemons and use them any place I can.

I am currently eating lunch which is a leftover dish of sauteed (shredded) beets with lime butter.

[Chris Amirault]

Can you make preserved limes, like with lemons?

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Oh my, yes. Click for Khmer preserved limes, or here for limes from Guyana, or....

[Chris Amirault]

Kristin, I'm surprised: are other staple Southeast Asian ingredients (lemon grass, galangal, etc.) so expensive?

[slschnur]

Limes are 10 for $1 at my local supermarket. Indispensable for Asian dishes. I mainly use them with fish sauce, garlic, hot peppers, &c for dipping sauce or even simple sauce for rice. The size varies wildly, however, from lemon size to small egg size.

[torakris]

Kristin, I'm surprised: are other staple Southeast Asian ingredients (lemon grass, galangal, etc.) so expensive?

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I know of two stores in the Tokyo-Yokohama area that regularly sell lemongrass, galangal is a little harder to find.

I was so excited when I found this set at one of these stores for about $6.

[M.X.Hassett]

3 lemons or limes(you can mix) for a dollar at my local walking distance store they are very ripe with a small pith. As to Chris' question as to why pith and skin thikness vary I can not add anything but an (un)educated guess that it may have something to do with genetic mod. or growing enviroment.(yeh, that realy narrows it down)

[snowangel]

I, too, am puzzled by why my Asian markets can sell them at 10 for a dollar, but they are $.99/lb. at the supermarket.

And, I am also puzzled by why some seem to have thick skins and some are thin skinned. The ladies at my Asian market look at me lovingly when I squeeze every one of them to find the ten wit the the thinnest skins. I mostly want the juice and zest, which leads me to believe that if you were going to do preserved limes, you would want those that weren't so relenting under the pressure of one's fingers.

Uses. Multitude in Thai cooking. In fact, I occasionlly have ramen noodles for lunch (the packet, not bowl variety) and regularly squeeze lime on them. What is fried rice (thai style, meaning white, not ala Chinese takeout) with a few lime wedges? Then, there is limeade. We always have in the fridge. I also like lime vinagette on salads. Also indespensible for souring milk (yes, I know lemon works).

I'm also quite fond of a lime meringue pie.

My fridge seems nakes without at least a few limes. I just like lime better than lemon, so rarely purchase the latter.

[Maison Rustique]

Can you make preserved limes, like with lemons?

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Oh my, yes. Click for Khmer preserved limes, or here for limes from Guyana, or....

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Ooh-la-la-la-la!!!! Can't wait to try this, and love the links! Where can I find wirri-wirri peppers or a reasonable facsimile in So. California? Sorry--I know I'm showing my ignorance, but that's why I read here.

[theabroma]

I think you may be talking about 2 different varieties of lime: the Mexican, or Key, lime, and the Persian lime. The Mx lime - usually light green, smallish, skin ripening to a yellow color, thin skin, little pith, and a rounded, floral juice typically sells for a buck for 10 to 20 of them, sometimes more. The big, suspiciously deep green Persian lime is often dry, hard to juice, with a violently green skin and a rather thick pith. Due to their picturesque appearance, their size - quality of juice notwithstanding - and their durability, they are the most common lime out there. And yes, Whole Paycheck does often charge a bundle per each of them.

Now the Key lime or pie fame often fetches a purse-pinching price, yet is is the same species as the Mexican lime ... it is exactly the same thing. So if you want to make pies, be sure to visit your Mexican, Central American, or Caribbean market, and run away from Key limes at .65 each!

Theabroma

[ronnie_suburban]

Limes (tahitian/persian) are generally best between May and July. However, in any season their rinds tend to discolor rapidly. Since we use a lot of them around here, they are on our weekly shopping list. At the very least, I know I'll need them around for cocktails.

=R=

[Chris Amirault]

I think you may be talking about 2 different varieties of lime:  the Mexican, or Key, lime, and the Persian lime.  The Mx lime - usually light green, smallish, skin ripening to a yellow color, thin skin, little pith, and a rounded, floral juice typically sells for a buck for 10 to 20 of them, sometimes more.  The big, suspiciously deep green Persian lime is often dry, hard to juice, with a violently green skin and a rather thick pith.  Due to their picturesque appearance, their size - quality of juice notwithstanding - and their durability, they are the most common lime out there.  And yes, Whole Paycheck does often charge a bundle per each of them.

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Sharon, that's really helpful. It's also dispiriting to think that Whole Foods is committed to selling lame limes.

So, what else to people use their limes for? As you can tell, there are plenty of cocktail drinkers around eG, but surely there are other uses!

[memesuze]

I think you may be talking about 2 different varieties of lime:  the Mexican, or Key, lime, and the Persian lime.  The Mx lime - usually light green, smallish, skin ripening to a yellow color, thin skin, little pith, and a rounded, floral juice typically sells for a buck for 10 to 20 of them, sometimes more.  The big, suspiciously deep green Persian lime is often dry, hard to juice, with a violently green skin and a rather thick pith.  Due to their picturesque appearance, their size - quality of juice notwithstanding - and their durability, they are the most common lime out there.  And yes, Whole Paycheck does often charge a bundle per each of them.

Now the Key lime or pie fame often fetches a purse-pinching price, yet is is the same species as the Mexican lime ... it is exactly the same thing.  So if you want to make pies, be sure to visit your Mexican, Central American, or Caribbean market, and run away from Key limes at .65 each!

Theabroma

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I'm not so sure that the reference was to the difference between Key/Mexican and Persian - as snowangel noted, it helps to feel that baby - same as with lemons - the rounder ones that yield to gentle pressure tend to be thinner-skinned and juicier. Both lemon and lime bins are plagued with dry, thick-skinned frauds.

[snowangel]

At my local supermarket, the limes are noted as being from Costa Rica (I think) and there are thick and thin skinned ones in the bin. At the Asian market, they are not marked as to country of origin and they are all thin skinned.

Since I almost never have lemons and always have limes, I use the latter like I would the former (almost always). Lime in place of lemon in desserts is just wonderful. Reminds me I need to dig out my lime cilantro cookie recipe and get it into RecipeGullet!

[Chris Amirault]

Ohmigod:

Reminds me I need to dig out my lime cilantro cookie recipe and get it into RecipeGullet!

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Yes, Susan. You do need to do that!

[snowangel]

Your wish is my command. Lime Cilantro Cookies.

[fud]

I was shocked that lemons in Fiji look like limes. I wondered if they had limes in Fiji then!

[rgruby]

Around here (Toronto) you'll see the Persian limes for 2 or 3 for a dollar most places, but if you know where to look (Kensington market or one of the Chinatowns) you often find them 4 or 5 for a dollar and occasionally 8 for a buck. As mentioned by several, skin thickness varies markedly even in the same bin.

We almost never see key limes here. I've seen them in the upscale markets (Whole Foods and the like) and maybe once or twice in little ethnic grocers. They are certainly not commonplace here.

And, to slightly hijack the thread, does anybody know if dried limes are just that - dried, presumably Persian, limes?

One use of limes that I don't believe has been mentioned yet is the Mexican beer "cocktail" known as a michelada. Wipe rim of glass with lime and coat with salt. Add ice (I prefer crushed), juice of a lime, a shot of hot sauce (Valentina works well) and beer (Dos Equis is fine).

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

[SeaGal]

One use of limes that I don't believe has been mentioned yet is the Mexican beer "cocktail" known as a michelada. Wipe rim of glass with lime and coat with salt. Add ice (I prefer crushed), juice of a lime, a shot of hot sauce (Valentina works well) and beer (Dos Equis is fine).

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

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Ahhh, the Michelada. So wonderful to sip while lounging under a palapa on the hot sand under the warm Mexican sun.......so far away from grey Seattle drizzle....

[BarbaraY]

We get limes at 10 for $1.00 here most of the time and we are way out in the country in Central CA.

Our Safeway often has little Key Limes at a reasonable price. I love Key Lime Pie.

[Chris Amirault]

And, to slightly hijack the thread, does anybody know if dried limes are just that - dried, presumably Persian, limes?

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Not hijacking at all! I believe the answer is yes: click here for a relevant thread.

[slkinsey]

My understanding is that "lime" isn't a very precise term. It simply describes a smallish, green, sour citrus fruit and does not necessarily mean that all limes are closely related.

The most commonly used in the Western world is Citrus latifolia, the "Persian lime." Then there is Citrus aurantifolia, the "Key lime." There are also things like Citrus australasica, the "Australian finger lime," Citrus hystrix, the "Kaffir lime," and Citrus limetta, the "Sweet lime" -- among many others.

Personally, I like Key limes for food and Persian limes for cocktails. Key limes are substantially more sour than Persian limes. Key limes are great for a salsa or squeezing over roast pork, etc. but is a problem for cocktails because the drink often becomes unpleasantly sour and rough before it has any appreciable lime flavor. Key limes also have a certain spicy flavor that I find very enjoyable in food, but not so much in a cocktail. Persian limes, on the other hand, have a good balance between lime flavor and acidity for a cocktail, and a smooth flavor that works well in a drink. I'd be interested to look into whether citrus-based cocktails came into such prominence in the US before or after 1926 when most of the US Key lime trees were destroyed by a hurricane and Persian limes came to be the main lime of America.

[fifi]

Thank you, Sam for identifying the various common limes. I was about to go look all that up but I got lucky and read your post, first.

We get the Key limes in a big bag, at least 30 or more, for about $2, sometimes on sale for $1 fairly routinely at the HEBs. Then, just across the street at another grocery, they have been as much a $2.99 per pound. I just don't get it. I had forgotten about the crop being decimated way back when. They were a real rarity here until a few years ago (well, a few to me). I used to really looking forward to getting them when going to Mexico. I don't know if we started growing them domestically here or started getting them imported from Mexico but they are now fairly common here.

A citrus guy I talked to while looking for a kaffir lime tree told me that the Persian lime can be quite variable in skin thickness and juice content due to growing conditions and it drives the commercial growers nuts. I don't know if he knew what he was talking about or not.

I have also made preserved limes discussed here. I have used them with chicken and pork.