On Food and Cooking

lemon, and also a couple of further hybrids.
The large, coarse Ponderosa variety is
probably a lemon-citron cross, and the Meyer
lemon, a thin-skinned, less acid version
brought to California in the early 20th
century, is probably a cross between the
lemon and either orange or mandarin, with a
distinctive flavor due in part to a thyme note
(from thymol). Lemons are generally “cured”
for better shelf life; they’re picked green and
held in controlled conditions for several
weeks, where their skin yellows, thins, and
develops a waxy surface, and the juice
vesicles enlarge.
The preserved lemons of northern Africa
have recently become more widely
appreciated as a condiment. They’re made by
cutting and salting lemons and letting them
ferment for some weeks. The growth of
bacteria and yeasts softens the rind and
changes their aroma from bright and sharp to
rich and rounded. Short versions of the