It’s Christmas, and of all the foods I should be craving right now, I’m thinking about lemons. Thinking about how just a bit of zest or a squeeze of juice can transform a dish from ho-hum to bright and flavorful. Salt does a similar thing, as well as red pepper (for me). It wakes up your taste buds, balances sweetness and cuts through oil and fat to wake up the flavors underneath.
Can I therefore consider lemons a kind of spice, a condiment, a flavor enhancer? I realize this sounds like I’m trying to rationalize citrus as a local food in the Mid-Atlantic… and perhaps I am a little. I know lemons will never be local here, but in the same way that it would be a serious detriment to my food life to be without olive oil, so it would to be without lemons. So the lemons stay. As an enhancer, not as a main ingredient. As it goes now, I only use 1 or 2 a week (if any) so it’s not as if I will have a huge impact.
Since this is supposed to be a permanent change, and not a year long gimmick, I’m giving myself a little slack. And in the spirit of transparency, I want to be honest about these things.
And besides, a life without lemons is just hardly worth living at all. Everyone needs a little sour to their sweet 😉
Merry Christmas to all!