Lemons!
It’s not new that I have an uninhibited obsession with lemons… This quote from Simon Hopkinson, in the The Gourmand’s Lemon, says it all, I think: “Lemons are symbols, ciphers, ingredients; conduits for meaning and metaphors; little cathedrals, fruit for dreaming.”
Little cathedrals. Yes. Exactly that!
But what is it about them?
The look, partly. All the types of yellow they can be, the dimpled skin, the way they catch light. The feel – that weight in your hand, the texture, the spray of oil when you press your thumb into the skin.
But I think it’s also something more. A lemon is the same now as it was when my grandmother held one. The same fruit, completely unchanged. And yet there are infinite ways to use it and more ways are constantly being discovered. Zest, juice, preserved, candied, burnt, dehydrated. I could cook with lemons every day for the rest of my life and never run out of things to say about them.
Artists have known this forever of course. The Dutch masters painted them obsessively. Matisse scattered them through his work. David Shrigley made that perfect print and called it “The Chaos.”
Lemons are never just lemons. They're everything. They're mine, I suppose - or maybe I'm theirs.
Lemon and saffron pudding
Once in the oven, this pudding quietly performs its alchemy, producing a soft sponge on top, with a sharp and glossy sauce underneath. The saffron, used sparingly (even a pinch will work), gives a subtle warmth and colour, though you can also do without it, if you prefer.
No-waste lemon pickle (aka, One jar of happy lemons)
Don’t bin your juiced lemons - you can turn them into an all-round condiment, alongside a couple of fresh lemons. This quick lemon pickle (no need to wait a month for it to mature) is ready to eat in under an hour, keeps for months in the fridge, and can be served in multiple ways: to marinate meat, blitzed into dressings, or diluted with a little water and spooned over roasted vegetables as soon as they come out of the oven. It’s particularly good for the rice with cashews below.
