Lemon: The Flexible Culinary Player in Sweet and Savoury Dishes
Lemons add a citrus flavour to foods. They introduce a bright, tangy flavour or heighten other flavours used in cooking. They are high in vitamin C, fibre, folate, and potassium, thus ultimately providing endless health benefits.
What Are Lemons?
Lemons, scientifically known as Citrus limon, are fruits of an evergreen tree belonging to family Rutaceae. The fruit is native to South Asia and eastern India. They are round green fruits that turn yellow when ripe.
The citrus fruit has many uses in the culinary and non-culinary world. Lemon juice, which has a tangy citrus flavour, is used in food recipes and making cleaning agents. Also, its rind and pulp are excellent in baking and cooking. The distinctive sour taste is attributed to The high acidity level and citrus flavour gives the fruit a distinctice . Therefore, lemons are vital ingredients in the preparation of food and drinks.
Though the origin of lemons remains unknown, culinary experts believe these fruits were first cultivated in China and India. Scholars believe lemons entered Europe through Italy during Ancient Rome. In the 10th century, Islamic farmers widely planted lemons for ornamental purposes. In Europe, lemon cultivation was not registered until the 15th century in Genoa. The famous explorer, Christopher Columbus, is believed to have carried lemon seeds to America during his explorations. Lemon cultivation increased throughout Europe and America in the 19th century. During that time, lemons were mainly used for medicinal and ornamental purposes.
What is Lemonade?
Lemonade is a sweetened or unsweetened beverage prepared by proportionally mixing lemon juice, water, and sugar. The drink is rich in vitamin C and evidence-proved health benefits.
The first lemonade was prepared in Egypt by mixing lemon juice and sugarcane juice. It was the most loved drink among the Egyptian peasants.
Lemonade beverages vary in variety in different regions. In Asia and the United States, lemonade is a cloudy homemade beverage prepared using lemons, water, and sugar or honey. In the United Kingdom, lemonade is a clear, typically carbonated beverage made with lemon flavouring. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The main varieties include cloudy lemonade (native to US and India), and clear variety (native to the UK and Australia). Other variations include pink lemonade, made by adding food colouring, and brown variety made by adding brown sugar.
What Is the Culinary Application of Lemons?
A wide variety of food and juice relies on lemon’s juice, peel, pulp, and rind to add flavour and health benefits. In most food recipes, whole lemons are used to make lemon curd, marmalade, and lemonade liquor. Lemon rinds are usually used as decoration or embellishments to accompany prepared food. The grated outer peel adds a distinctive flavour in dishes, mostly puddings, baked food, and rice.
Lemonade is universally used to make cocktails, soft drinks, and the widely loved lemonade. The citrus acid in lemonade helps tenderise meat. However, it’s not widely used since it causes meat to dry out once cooked. Interestingly, lemonade juice acts as a short-term food preservative to foods that turn brown after slicing. These foods include avocados, bananas, and apples.
Cured peels are used to add citrus flavour in many dishes. The skins are primary ingredients when making the industrial gelling agent known as pectin. Also, they are excellent food stabilisers and thickening agent.
Lemon oil, obtained from the peels, can be used in aromatherapy to ease stress and stimulate the immune system. Other uses include elevating moods, alleviating pain, and promoting weight loss.
Lemon leaves are used in making tea and preparing food recipes such as seafood and meat. They can also be used as moulds when making chocolate leaves, and in decorating lemon cakes.
Other industrial uses of lemon include extraction of citric acid to make commercial products. Such products include kitchen cleaning agents, lemon oil aroma, and educational science experiments. When lemon is cut and dipped in baking powder or salt, the acidic reaction creates a cleaning agent that brightens metallic cookware. The resulting cleaning agent is effective in removing grease and bleaching stains. Other uses include cleaning and polishing wood. Educational use of lemon juice details a peculiar compound of the fruit. They are the only fruits with positive ions. In science experiments, electrodes are attached to lemons to produce electricity.
Health Benefits of Lemon Fruits
Lemon fruit is high in vitamin C and other health beneficial plant compounds. Nutritional health benefits may include weight control, heart health, cancer prevention, and digestive health.
Vitamin C does support heart health. According to research, there is evidence that high vitamin C helps reduce stroke and the risk of heart disease. The beneficial plant compounds and fibre can lower some risk factors attributed to heart disease.
Different theories attribute these fruits with weight control. The most common theory explains that the pectin fibre in the fruit expands in the stomach, thus causing one to feel full for a long time. However, no studies have confirmed the total effect of lemons and weight loss.
Citrus acid can help prevent kidney stones. Citrus acid can help in reducing the formation of kidney stones. According to research, citrus increases urine volume, which creates unfavourable conditions for the formation of kidney stones. While some studies prove the effectiveness of lemonade, others dispute and claim no effect.
The vitamin C in lemonade helps prevent anaemia. The fruit contains some amount of iron that primarily helps prevent anaemia. Also, citrus acid and vitamin C helps improve the absorption of iron in the body.
Buying Lemons from Farmy
Lemons available at Farmy are from small scale farmers that use organic farming methods. Other lemon products like lemon juice, lemon cakes, and lemonade are also available. They come from reliable producers who deliver high-quality and fresh lemons. Buying from Farmy means accessing refreshingly sweet fruits rich in flavour and vitamin C for a healthy body.