Valerie Aikman-Smith - Citrus: sweet and savory sun-kissed recipes

Copyright 2015 by Valerie Aikman-Smith
Photographs copyright 2015 by Victoria Pearson

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aikman-Smith, Valerie.
Citrus : sweet and savory sun-kissed recipes / Valerie Aikman-Smith and Victoria Pearson.First Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cooking (Citrus fruits) I. Pearson, Victoria. II. Title.
TX813.C5A35 2015
641.64304dc23
2015007695

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60774-767-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60774-768-0

Design by Emma Campion and Tatiana Pavlova

v3.1

Contents

Breakfast

Starters

Mains

Salads, Soups & Sides

Desserts

Drinks

Pantry Staples

Citrus bursts onto the winter scene just after the last of the beautiful fall fruits have faded, brightening and scenting the gray winter months. Like jewels, they remind us of rays of sunshine from which they have been growing and ripening throughout the summer.

It was on one of these winter days that Victoria called and said she was harvesting citrus from her garden and didnt know what to do with it all. She asked if there was a citrus cookbook I could recommend. Why dont we write one! I suggested. And Citrus was born. What could be better than to work on a book with Victoria; plus it was a good excuse to drive to Ojai and shoot at her studio in amongst the heavenly citrus groves.

Under the watchful eye of the Topa Topa Mountains in Ojainestled in among the colorful floral citrus grovesis Victorias house. Pixies, Kishus, oranges, grapefruits, and all things citrus ripen in the groves all year round. In March, when the blossoms explode, the air is filled with an unforgettable heady, hypnotic perfume, which lingers long into the evening. If Victoria has been away on location for a few days, the house will trap and concentrate the citrus blossom scents. When she returns home and opens the door, she is hit by the magical perfume.

Victoria inherited oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and a mystery citrus from the previous owners, so there is an endless supply year roundthe envy of Midwest and East Coast friends and family. This made her realize just how lucky she was to be able to pop outside and pluck a fat juicy lemon off one of her trees to squeeze over a salad. Her canning skills come in handy when she needs to make marmalades with all the bounty. Orange for her wedding, which was bottled the night before by friends and family.

I live in Los Angeles with a garden that can only sustain cactus, but I have six large pots, which I proudly call my grove, where lemons, kumquats, and makrut limes all nestle together under the hot California sun. They are pollinated by bees and brightly colored humming birdsa wonderful bonus. When they bloom, the air is floral, even with only six pots. My love for citrus grew as soon I moved to Los Angeles; everywhere I looked there were trees laden with lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and limes. Californians are so used to this that they leave fallen fruit on the ground. How could this be? The cook in me would go around and gather all this forgotten fruit and make jams and marmalades. Then I started to expand my repertoire, leaning heavily on Spanish and North African influences, lacing dishes with preserved lemons and perfuming them with orange blossoms. I began to dry orange peel to go in Szechuan recipes, salts, and sugars. I love to mix and match the wonderful bright zest and tangy flavors with heady spices and freshly picked herbs, marrying it all to Californian produce.

When I was a child growing up in Scotland, one of the highlights of Christmas was finding a bright orange tangerine at the bottom of my stockinga magical treat in itself. The fruits had come from warm sunny climates far from the snowy dark winter of Scotland. I never dreamed that one day I would live in one of the most abundant citrus states and cook with such wonderful fruits.

One of my favorite things to do is visit local farms where I can pick my own fruit. Walking through the quiet groves with bees buzzing in the air and trees laden with juicy plump fruits makes me appreciate where the fruit has come from. You get to experience the real farm-to-table taste. I come home revitalized, my head exploding with ideas of what I am going to create with this wonderful plunder.

Weve brought our love for all things citrus in the following chapters through personal recipes that we love to cook. Talking to local growers and sellers at our farmers markets yields a goldmine of knowledge and tips and is a nice way to share recipes and ideas. We encourage everyone to look for the lesser known varieties of citrus and have fun discovering new flavors.

But most of all, be mindful when you eat your next orange. Take time to peel it with care, smell the fragrance, and think about the star-shaped blossoms that soaked up the sun and rain to create this citrus wonder. And then enjoy every last bite.

VALERIE AIKMAN-SMITH

Citrus fruits are easy to work with, requiring only the simplest preparation techniques. Here are a handful of basic tips to help you select, store, and prepare them. If you already have a favored way of handling these everyday tasks, skip this page and go right into the kitchen.