Last week, I took a hiatus from the lemon preserve blog in the hopes that my lemons would get a little bit softer and more jelly-like. I think I have, throughout this experiment, misunderstood the goal of the final product.
So it seems ‘lemon preserves’ is a bit of a misnomer. See, I imagined them the way I think of apricot preserves — still most of the fruit and peel, but spreadable. In reality, they should more accurately called ‘preserved lemons.’
I tasted them last night, and let me tell you. That jar was pure salt. Salty salty lemon juice — which reminds me of what Max Auerbach said at the original Moishe House event.
I also tasted them with a slice of bread, but that really did not help dilute the taste at all.
The rinds are still extremely hard — almost like a regular lemon. So in terms of cooking with them, I think it will be a situation where I have to take the whole piece out of the jar and cut it up. I also don’t know what to do with the salty juice. I suppose I keep it in there to continue preserving the lemons.
Below, watch a video of my tasting experience:
As I express in the video, I’m a bit apprehensive about cooking with the preserved lemons, as I will henceforth be calling them so I can stop confusing myself.
But! I have done some research (really, a quick Google search) for what to do with preserved lemons. This list for different types of meals, drinks and desserts to create with preserved lemons is actually quite extensive, so despite my reservations about cooking with them, I may attempt to do so.
I’m thinking I’ll do one savory recipe, and one sweet recipe. Let me know in the comments below which recipes you think I should try!
This blog is part of a series documenting the progress of my lemon preserves, which I created at a Moishe House Northern Virginia event.
To read the introductory post, click here.
To read the Week 1 post, click here.
To read Week 2, click here.
To read Week 3, click here.
