A Low Carbon Life|Post 9 2016|Preserving Gifted Lemons
Despite it being winter, when little is growing in our garden, there seems to be an abundance of fresh food that is being shared throughout our community. Recently, we have received lemons, tangelos and tamarillos. The tamarillos actually came from my workplace. Two large bags made an appearance, filled to capacity with absolutely perfect tamarillos. Most people at work were unfamiliar with them, and when they tasted them, decided that they didn’t like tamarillos. The consensus was that they were too bitter. I, on the other hand, with a mother from New Zealand who grew up knowing tamarillos as tree tomatoes, love them so we ended up with lots. I took them for lunch for over three weeks and THS poached the remainder then froze them to make into cakes and puddings as the year progresses.
My tamarillo experience, plus the lemons that our neighbour gave us, which I preserved in salt, are both the essence and the pleasure of eating local, seasonal food. We eat the local food in its fresh state, as it makes an appearance in various garden then, with appropriate preserving, we enjoy a slightly altered version of the same local food throughout the remainder of the year. We are still eating the lemons that I preserved last year; their colour has remained good but inevitably not quite as bright as the newly preserved lemons. I will give a jar of this year’s preserved lemons to the neighbours who gifted them to us, as they were unfamiliar with keeping lemons in this way. I must remember to add a little tag to the jar explaining that the flesh should be cut away from the rind and discarded, then the remaining lemon washed before serving. This technique reduces some of the saltiness of the lemons while retaining their great flavour.
Eating local, seasonal food reduces the emissions associated with transporting food over long distances; it reduces the need for packaging; it helps to make food experiences regional and hence different and interesting; and, it helps to develop and maintain food preserving skills and community connections. These are all positive manifestations of a low carbon life that you might like to try if someone shares their produce with you.
Until next time, Jane