PRESERVED LEMONS OR LIMES
PREPARATION TIME:20 minutes
STORAGE: several years
MAKES:2 x 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cup) jars
Every home cook should know how to make preserved lemons or limes – they’re
the most straightforward and cheapest of all the preserves. All you need is
lemons or limes and salt!
Once you have a jar of these on the go, you’ll wonder how you lived without
them: use to pep up a white bean mash (see page 223), chard and wild greens
pie (see page 204) or lamb tagine (see page 228), stir through aioli (see page
97), or smash into avocado and serve on toast.
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) lemons or limes – if using limes, you may need
a few extra if they aren’t particularly juicy
100–150 g (31⁄2 –51⁄2 oz) salt
FOR EACH JAR OF PRESERVED LEMONS (OPTIONAL):
1 bay leaf or 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves
1 allspice berry
5 black peppercorns
FOR EACH JAR OF PRESERVED LIMES (OPTIONAL):
1 red chilli
12
⁄ teaspoon coriander seeds
5 black peppercorns
First sterilise your jars (see page 250), then leave to cool completely.
Cut the lemons or limes into quarters, or halves if very small. Place a tablespoon of
salt into the bottom of each jar. Put a few layers of lemon or lime quarters into the jar,
pressing down as you go to release the fruit’s juices.
Slide your chosen spices down the side of each jar. Sprinkle over another layer of
salt, then add another layer of lemon or lime quarters and repeat these layers until
the jar is full. Remember to keep pushing down as you go. The fruit needs to be
completely covered in salty juice – if your fruit hasn’t released enough of its own
juices, squeeze a few extra and pour in this juice to cover.
Leave 1 cm (1⁄2 in) of space between the top of the fruit and the lid of the jar – you
don’t want the salty fruit touching the lid or it will corrode the metal. Seal the jars and
let them sit in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks.
You know your lemons or limes are preserved when the salt has completely dissolved
into a gel-like liquid. Preserved lemons and limes will keep for years, but opened jars are
best stored in the fridge (if the top layer of fruit looks discoloured, just discard it and the
rest should be fine to use).