15 Preserved Lemon Recipes That Will Make Your Taste Buds Tingle (2024)

FAQs

Where are preserved lemons in the grocery store? ›

Luckily, you can find preserved lemons at many grocery stores these days. Look for them at Middle Eastern or South Asian grocery stores, usually in glass jars, by the pickles and preserved foods. You can also order them online from brands like New York Shuk or Mina.

You can buy preserved lemons at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, but DON'T! Homemade preserved lemons have a complexity and depth of flavor that just can't be store bought.

Lemons are high in acid, and, like salt, acid triggers your saliva glands. The dissolving power of saliva helps our taste buds derive more flavor (in other words, greater enjoyment) from our food.

It's mellow yet intensely lemony, with none of the nose-tickling bright, high notes of the fresh lemon.

Since preserved lemons are brined in salt, giving them a quick rinse before using them is a sound way to remove any excess saltiness. The rinsed lemons will still be quite salty; you aren't losing out on any of their flavor by rinsing them.

Kept refrigerated, these lemons will keep for about a year, so don't feel that you have to rush to use them up before they go bad. You eat the whole lemon, rind and all — though I'd recommend removing the seeds first. Rinse them quickly under cool water to remove excess salt and then chop them up for your dish.

If properly stored in the fridge, they will keep for up to 6 months. Preserved lemons will be mellow but intense with flavor…their flesh and skins are tender and edible.

It is also known as "country lemon" and leems. Diced, quartered, halved, or whole lemons are pickled in a brine of water, lemon juice, and salt; occasionally spices are included as well. The pickle is allowed to ferment at room temperature for weeks or months before it is used.

(As Paula Wolfert notes in her headnote on preserved lemons, "fresh lemons are never an adequate substitute" in recipes that call for the preserved variety, though preserved lemons are a fine—perhaps better! —substitute in recipes calling for fresh.)

So, try starting a meal with some lemon sorbet to wake up your taste buds, Lee suggests, or add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to get the saliva flowing. Chewing slowly can also generate saliva, and sipping water can help keep your mouth moist during meals.

How can I regrow my taste buds? ›

Can preserved lemons go bad? They can, especially if they are not fully submerged in the brine or if the jar is not sealed correctly.

If you are working from your home made preserved lemons you will want to rinse them off completely and scrape the white pith away from the yellow rind. The white part is bitter. You can use the inside of the lemon in many ways including a salad dressing. That bright yellow rind though is mostly what you'll want to use.

This is totally not a problem. This style of lemon preservation relies on fermentation. The salt is not intended to halt all fermentation- it just restricts it to the tasty kind.

Properly stored in the fridge, salt-preserved lemons can keep for a good 6 months. It is important to use a good canning jar with a tightly closed lid, and make sure the lemons are well submerged in the lemon juice. Some sources say they will last a good year, that may be, but I like to play it safe.

I typically find the lemon juice in the produce section. At my Kroger, I find the lemon juice on a shelf that also has minced garlic, mixed nuts and croutons.

Although they are more commonly referred to as preserved lemons, the fermentation process creates the preserved or pickled lemons and helps develop their striking flavor -- so to call them a kind of pickle is strictly correct.