Technique
Preserving lemons
Salt and time, and the lemon becomes something else.
- Darija
- Hamd Mrakad
- العربية
- تحميض الليمون
Definition
The Moroccan preserved lemon is a kitchen staple: lemons quartered, packed with salt, sealed in a jar, left for at least four weeks. The rind softens; the flesh dissolves into paste; the result is salt-bright, faintly bitter, and tastes of nothing else.
Method
- Choose small, thin-skinned lemons (doqq lemons if you can find them). Scrub them clean.
- Quarter each lemon down through the top, leaving them joined at the base.
- Pack the inside of each lemon generously with coarse sea salt and push them into a clean jar.
- Press down to release juice; top up with extra lemon juice until the lemons are fully submerged.
- Seal and leave somewhere cool for at least four weeks. They keep, refrigerated, for a year.