Preserved Lemons

Silky preserved lemons are an essential ingredient in Moroccan and North African cuisine. They impart a fragrant, sweet yet sour taste to tagines and salads and go particularly well with lamb and chicken. Once pickled, you can eat the whole thing, rind and all. I generally only use the rind, discarding the flesh and pith from each, then rinsing well under water. I started preserving lemons because I love Moroccan cuisine, but I have been doing them a lot more lately since mum has a lemon tree and I have been getting all the unwanted lemons - lucky me!! Also they make a lovely gift; my mother in law, sister in law and grandmother in law have all received a jar!

Ingredients (to fill a 500 ml jar)

10 medium unwaxed lemons
Rock salt
4 bay leaves
15 peppercorns
15 coriander seeds
6 cloves (optional)

Method

Cut 9 lemons into wedges, 8 per lemon, then remove the seeds. Squeeze the remaining lemon and reserve the juice.

Firmly press a layer of lemon wedges into the bottom of a sterilised jar. Cover with 1 teaspoons of salt, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and coriander seeds and 1 or 2 cloves. Press down another later of lemon wedges and repeat the salting and spicing process. Continue until there is only 3 cm or so of space at the top of the jar.

Now pour in the lemon juice, top with boiling water and seal the jar. Store in a cool, dark place for 1 month before using. The lemons will keep for about 1 year.

You may want to check the lemons ever few days. Some batches will let off a bit of gas and briefly opening the lids will relieve the pressure. But this problem is unlikely to occur if you’ve used enough salt. Before eating, rinse the lemons well under water to remove the salt. Return the jar to the fridge with a layer of olive oil to cover the lemons.