The recipe for citron salad in the chapter on citron in The Land Where Lemons Grow by Helena Attlee, made me want to prepare this savoury dish. I grew up knowing citron as a sweet preserve but discovering that one could make savoury dishes with it as well, was very exciting. The culinary possibilities of the citron took on a different dimension for me.
In the Dictionnaire de la Cuisine Française Ancienne et Moderne (1839), Maurice Cousin, the Count de Courchamps, lists 54 uses of citron in cooking. Only one of which involved a savoury dish, where the juice of the green citron on foie gras is added “at the time of serving”.
L’Anonyme Andalou, or the Anonymous Andalusian, is the most important cookbook of the early 13th century and contains a recipe which uses the leaf of the citron tree in lamb stew.
Through all my research, it is clear that the citron tree
played an important role as a contributor in the culinary practises of
different peoples and cultures since before the 5th century AD.
As an introduction to the savoury element of the citron, I decided to make Insalata di Cedro using the recipe in Helena Attlee’s book, The Land Where Lemons Grow, as a basis. I added anchovies and red chillies as inspired by Nonna Concetta’s Sicilian Citron Salad.
Insalata di Cedro
1 small or 1⁄2 large, ripe citron
1 shallot, sliced lengthways into
slivers
100ml olive oil
100ml fresh lemon juice
sea salt and black pepper
a handful of parsley
black olives, de-stoned
8 anchovy fillets chopped
1 fresh red chilli chopped
Peel the citron with a sharp potato peeler, being careful to remove all of the bright yellow rind, which is the bitterest part of the fruit. Cut the peeled citron into thick segments. Trim away the central pulp and discard it, so that you are left with only the sweet white pith. Slice each segment of pith into very thin strips and put the strips in a bowl. Add the sliced shallot. Mix the olive oil and lemon juice, pour over the salad and toss together. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Allow the salad to rest for an hour so that the dressing is completely absorbed. Finely chop the parsley and olives before adding them to the salad. Serve immediately.
Make sure to mix the olive oil and lemon juice through the salad briskly so as to cover all the citron pith because the porous pith quickly draws up the liquids.
The salad is fresh, aromatic and citrusy, with a complex
balance of sweet and tangy notes from the citron's thick, spongy pith and rind.
The anchovies added a savoury, salty, umami flavour and the chillies some heat
and flavour.
One can serve the salad as a course on its own. It is very refreshing. You might want to serve with it crusty bread to soak up the juices on your plate.
