Meyer lemons brighten winter

Deeply golden, bright and sunny, with a surprising sweetness, Meyer lemons might be the quintessential California fruit. While they’ve only recently started to become well known outside the state, here in Sacramento it seems everyone knows someone who has a backyard tree heavy with the rounded, thin-skinned, aromatic fruit.

Thank goodness for that, because these chilly, gray, drizzly January days certainly need something to brighten them up. Citrus fruit, paradoxically in season during the year’s darkest days, is your kitchen’s secret weapon against the winter blahs – not to mention a bracing counterattack against the rich overindulgence of Christmas past.

Ultra-juicy and aromatic, Meyer lemons swing easily from sweet to savory applications. No wonder they’ve become a favorite with area chefs, according to Scott Rose of local supplier Produce Express, which sells some 1,000 pounds of Meyer lemons to top area restaurants during the season. (Produce Express sources local fruit from Twin Peaks Orchards in Newcastle.) This year, he says, the season has been unusually prolific and long.

“Usually, people start asking us for them way before they’re ready,” Rose says. “In years past we haven’t seen them until December, but we started getting Meyers from Twin Peaks at the end of October.” The local season, he guesses, will continue until the first week of February.

What sets Meyers apart from standard lemons (known as Eurekas), Rose says, is the history of their breeding. “Meyers are a cross between a lemon and mandarin, so you get a lemon that’s a little rounder,” Rose says. “The skin is smoother, the flesh is really juicy, and they have a really nice rich balance of sweet and tart, which is the appeal to most chefs.”

That balance lends itself equally well to marinating a chicken, infusing olive oil (or vodka) with the flavorful peels, enhancing a cup of tea or flavoring a simple cake, classic lemon bars or a French-style lemon tart. And there’s no need to hesitate if your recipe doesn’t call specifically for Meyer lemons.

“Anything you use a lemon for, you can certainly use a Meyer lemon for,” Rose says. “This time of year, chefs really should be using a Meyer. There’s a few short months where you can use them and chefs really should take advantage of that.”

So should home cooks. If you don’t have a tree (or a friend with one), Meyer lemons are available at specialty and farmers markets. Once you have a store of lemons, use them up.

One of the few disadvantages of Meyer lemons is that they don’t keep as well as their sturdier, thicker-skinned counterparts, Eureka lemons. Meyer lemons’ thinner skin and juicier flesh – plus the fact that, unlike supermarket lemons, their skin is typically not coated with wax to preserve them – means they are more perishable and should be used quickly.

But there are ways to preserve their unique flavor. In North African cuisines, lemons are often preserved with salt, then used to flavor savory, stewlike tagines and other dishes, where they add a distinct tangy-salty note. (Think of them as a south-Mediterranean parallel to the capers used in Italian and other Mediterranean cooking.)

Meyers’ thin peels lend themselves well to this treatment, and making a jar of preserved lemons you can use year round might be the easiest preserving project you’ll ever undertake (see the following instructions). The juice also freezes well, for use in summer lemonade stands or refreshing cocktails. (They’re great in margaritas.)

If your lemon love runs in a sweet direction, our recipe for simple, buttery lemon curd shines in shortbread thumbprint cookies – and also freezes well for future treats. But don’t put up so much sunshine in a jar that you neglect to enjoy the most golden of California’s produce right now.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Meyer lemons brighten winter."