Dried Lemons

I just did a catering job and a Morrocan chef they brought in had a gallon ziplock full of dried lemons(which I've never run across before). He gave them to me. I asked "Tangines?" and he said yes, also biryanis. Does anyone have recipes for them??

Ooh, you lucky duck! In addition to tagines, you can also use them as you would other lemons - fish, poultry, lamb, etc. Remove after the dish is cooked, though, unless they soften sufficiently to be edible.

Paula Wolfert has an excellent book on Morrocan food, I believe it's called "The Morrocan Kitchen," but I could be wrong there. There's also a website, www.parsianmarket.com/index.shtml that will offer further readings. I'd also suggest a web search based on "parsi," "farsi," "persian," "iranian," and "morrocan" recipes and foods.

A Farsi friend gave me some of these treasures a few years ago, and I eked them out for a very long time. They really brighten the taste of a wide variety of foods!

(Sorry I can't be more specific on recipes, but they don't let me bring cookbooks to work!)

Enjoy!

[mudbug]

MaryeO,

Why don't you dry lemons yourself?

They also combine a spice/herb combo that I wasn't able to identify, and they weren't in any packaging that might have had a list of ingredients. At that time, too, some of the herbs (sumac, zatar, etc.) weren't popularly available. Now that they are more accessible (bless the 'net!), I might try that! Re: the 7-hour lamb, adding a bit of the dried lemon really makes it sparkle!

[cookM]

Originally posted by MaryeO:
Paula Wolfert has an excellent book on Morrocan food, I believe it's called "The Morrocan Kitchen," but I could be wrong there.

It's called Couscous and other Good Food from Morrocco. It's a great book, too. She's one of my faves.

I once had to buy dried limes from a Middle Eastern Market. I had to put it into my spice grinder and then mix it into some curry powder for a recipe. Very delicious. Would love to hear more about dried citrus.

Thanks, cookm - I couldn't remember the name of that book! I think that you could probably substitute the dried lemons for preserved lemons so popular in Moroccan food. I'd suggest pouring boiling water over the dried lemons just to cover (use the water, too!) and then cooking with them. You're supposed to remove the dried version before serving, anyway. The results won't be the same as the preserved lemons, but the flavor is still very nice.

[cookM]

That is good to know MaryeO. Sometimes I get stopped from making something cause I don't have the prerequisite preserved lemons. I'll have to check out that Middle Eastern store more. Thanks.

cookM, Wolfert does offer a quickie preserved lemon recipe in the book - if you do the longer recipe they will keep for quite a long time.

See, now I'm going to have to make something out of the book! There's a chicken recipe with olives and preserved lemons that's to die for. Gotta go look it up!

[cookM]

MaryeO, I have tried that quick preserved lemon recipe, and it is great when you're in a pinch, but it is not the same! Too bad. Mmmmm...that recipe sounds really good. Tell me how it turned out. A co-worker told me that recently he had a chance to hang out with Paula Wolfert! I'm jealous.

Wow, I'm jealous, too. Her books remind me a lot of Jane Grigson - you get this wonderful little well-written story about each recipe. I agree, the quickie lemons aren't as good!

[mudbug]

Check out this place for ingredients:

The Middle Eastern Marketplace
http://members.home.net/stoma/marketplace.html