Smell a fresh lemon and just try to not close your eyes and let a blissful smile come over your face. Can’t do it, can you? Lemons are the essence of freshness (literally and figuratively), and they enhance so many foods, drinks, beauty products, and even cleaning products! Writer Sharon Kurtz had the pleasure of exploring the world of Sicilian lemons through places she visited, people she met, and food and drink she enjoyed. Real Food Traveler readers have the pleasure to follow along.

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Sicily has been called the “Lemon Riviera.” The world’s finest lemons come from Sicily, a region steeped in tradition, heritage, and flavor. They are an integral part of the island’s landscape and culture. In Sicily, there is a very good chance that every meal has a lemon involved somewhere. From fresh squeezed lemon on top of almost any dish to lemon flavored desserts and more, lemons are an essential part of Sicilian life.

For over 1,200 years, the Sicilians have been cultivating the tart citrus and living among verdant orchards speckled with the sunshine-colored fruits. Sicilian Femminello St. Teresa lemons have unusual qualities that make them particularly desirable: they are less acidic than other varieties, have more juice, and have oilier skin.

Sicilians are proud of their lemons, and they should be. Nine out of ten of the lemons in Italy come from Sicily. There is a saying in Sicily that says: “They are not real lemons unless they are Sicilian.”

Sicilian Femminello St. Teresa lemons are larger and have a thick oily skin, perfect for limoncello.

History of Sicilian Lemons

Lemons arrived in Sicily during the 9th century when Islamic armies captured the island and paved the way for new crops to cultivate in the mineral-rich soil. The fruit flourished, and even though ruling parties changed over time – Sicily remained the world’s top producer and exporter of lemons. The Mediterranean climate, sunny hot days and cold nights, coupled with the rich volcanic soil surrounding Mt. Edna, gives the Sicilian lemon a unique sweetness and taste that is very difficult to find anywhere else in the world.

The Bay of Palermo – the “Shell of Gold”
The Bay used to be called the Conca d’Oro, the shell of gold, supposedly because the abundance of yellow citrus fruits made the landscape shine like gold. The landscape was of rare beauty. The plain of the Conca d’Oro, extended over 36 square miles with its intense scents and colors, as a fertile land of lemons, oranges, and tangerines. Citrus fruit was grown as a symbol of wealth and abundance in immense, open-air gardens.

The island’s lemon industry exploded in the 19th century as doctors around the world realized the fruit cured scurvy, a condition caused by lack of vitamin C. That created a huge global demand for lemons that thrived in the Sicilian climate, but had not been a major export previously. Lemon growing became hugely lucrative. Some historians have estimated that, by the mid-1880s, it was 60 times more profitable to grow a hectare of lemons (roughly 2.5 square acres) in Sicily than to grow other crops, including olives, grapes or wheat.

Other uses for Sicilian lemons

Essential Oils and Designer Perfumes
Sicily is one of the main producers of lemon essence which is shipped all over the world. Scientists recently discovered a link between depression and our sense of smell and found the citrus fragrances – lemon in particular – directly affected neurotransmitters in the brain. The aromas help boost serotonin, a feel-good hormone, and reduce levels of norepinephrine, a stress hormone. Walking through a lemon grove after it has rained and seeing the fruit glistening and covered in rain drops befits a real tonic – it would lift anyone’s spirits!

Aestheticians in Ancient Egypt were already extracting essences and perfumes from the essential oils of citric fruits 5,000 years ago. The Sicilian femminello lemons have oilier skin, which can be extracted and used as essential oil to create designer perfumes, such as those made by Dior and Lancôme.

Lemon essence is used in making cosmetics and soaps as I found in the street market in Taormina.

Health benefits of Sicilian lemons

There are a multitude of health benefits associated with consuming lemons including anti-viral properties for fighting flu/colds, anti-bacterial benefits as just a few drops of lemon juice can eliminate 92 percent of microbes and bacteria on shellfish, neutralizing of free-radicals (cause of ageing and most types of disease), and high Vitamin C content – just to name a few.

Culinary uses for lemons

Lemon has been an important ingredient in Italian cooking for thousands of years. It brings a tangy flavor and tart fragrance to Italian cuisine, acting as a catalyst for other ingredients. It’s refreshing presence dresses leafy salads and pasta with lemon and fresh herbs makes a great summer dish served with a nice crisp white wine.

Lemon juice, rind and peel are used in a wide variety of foods and drinks. The whole lemon is used to make marmalade, lemon curd and lemon filling in desserts of all kinds. Lemon slices and lemon rind are used as a garnish for food and drinks. Lemon zest, the grated outer rind of the fruit, is used to add flavor to baked goods, puddings, rice and other dishes.

Luscious, lemony tarts with fresh lemon curd were beckoning to me in the case.

Lemon juice is used to make lemonade, soft drinks, and cocktails as well as marinade for fish and as a short-term preservative on foods that tend to oxidize and turn brown after being sliced such as apples, bananas and avocados. And now for the best of all, the elixir known as limoncello.

Lemons are plentiful in the market where they can even be used to help keep other foods from oxidizing.

Limoncello made from Sicilian lemons

The Pride of Sicily, Limoncello, is one of the most famous digestives, traditionally served chilled in slender cordial glasses after dinner or with the dessert course. One sips Limoncello slowly, not all at one time as a shot. Sweet and soothing, potent and relaxing, limoncello is a strong, neon yellow after-dinner liqueur made from lemon zest soaked in neutral spirits and mixed with simple syrup. It tastes like a boozy, lemon gumdrop. True Sicilian limoncello is made with Femminello St. Teresa lemons with zest that is particularly high in lemon oils.

Limoncello’s origins are shrouded in mystery. The truth is vague and the theories are many. Sorrento, Amalfi, and Capri alike claim its ancestry. Some recall the peasants and fishermen’s custom of drinking a little lemon liqueur in the morning to ward off the cold. Others speak of diligent monks’ intent on preserving the pleasures of life between prayers during the Middle Ages. No one can be sure where, or when, limoncello was invented. We may never know the truth, except for the fact that the traditional liqueur is often made at home from family recipes passed down through the generations.

When I asked for limoncello, this bartender pulled out an array of homemade digestives from behind the bar also including melon, blood oranges and… red pepper

Hungry for more? Get the recipe for making Limoncello and turn it into a party.

Wherever it began, the making of it is fairly simple; it just requires fantastic, fresh lemons with thick, hearty skins that thrive in Sicily’s sun-soaked climate. At a recent visit to an agritourismo and farm near Modica the owner explained how to turn lemons into limoncello. The traditional recipe, she said, is to “take the lemon rinds and infuse them with 95-percent alcohol. Leave the infusion for eight days, strain the zest, boil (lots of) sugar in water to make a simple syrup, and stir in the alcoholic mixture; bottle it and let it stand for several days or weeks before serving.” Sound simple? But the result, Oh, so good! I can attest to that, having sampled the limoncello at the end to a perfect farmhouse lunch.

After experiencing Limoncello, I vote that when life gives us lemons…we celebrate. Of course we can still make lemonade. The best part about Sicilian lemons is that if life does give you lemons you can make both limoncello and lemonade because one uses the rind and the other uses the juice. So…. maybe we just need to update the quote. The liqueur is delicious when paired with Italian desserts, such as tiramisu, fresh fruit, or drizzled over ice cream. Limoncello’s fans have found many other uses for it also: spiking lemonade, flavoring cocktails, or adding to lemon granita for a refreshing summer treat. Store your bottle in the freezer when not in use.

The climate and soil is perfect for lemon in Sicily – the scent was amazing as I walked along the path in the hill-town of Ragusa.

Hungry for more? Now that you know about lemons, learn about Sicilian chocolate.

I’ve heard it said that in Sicily, lemons aren’t just a local resource, they’re a way of life. Tradition is very important, because it is our roots and our past. We must remember to protect our heritage. It is a part of our landscape, it’s inside us, part of our DNA.

Poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) depicted the lemon in perfect verse in part:
“Ode to the lemon…
Out of lemon flowers
Loosed on the moonlight,
Love’s lashed and insatiable essences,
Sodden with fragrance,
The lemon tree’s yellow emerges,
The lemons move down from the tree’s planetarium…”

— Story and photos by Sharon Kurtz

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