Majida Rashid
“If life gives you lemons, make apple juice, and make people wonder how the hell you did it.”
— Gurbaksh Chahal, the Internet entrepreneur
In Pakistan, we call small green or yellow limes lemons. Two to three of them would make a bigger lime sold in American supermarkets. Its juice is sprinkled over salads and used to make Shikanjabeen, lemonade with a twist, which is consumed after breaking the fast and to welcome guests during summer. It helps with rehydration. My mother made a hand lotion by mixing equal amounts of lemon juice and glycerin. Then added a little rose water to make it fragrant.
The exact origin of lemons is unknown but some believe that they were cultivated in Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt as early as 700 AD. My first encounter with yellow lemons was in a small vegetable shop in Shiraz, Iran. No other cuisine uses lemon juice the way Iranians do. I was surprised to see how Iranians, during a meal, would pick up a thick wedge of lemon from the salad bowl and eat it like one would eat an orange. They even dip tips of cos lettuce leaves in lemon juice and eat without wincing. Every home in Iran had a store-bought small bottle of lemon juice. They love the sourness of lemons so much that during the off season it’s replaced with unripe sour grapes.
Iranian lemons were similar to what we called Khatta, which grew in Peshawar. They were big like oranges. Their skin was thick, rough and difficult to peel and their flesh wasn’t that juicy. It rarely made its way to the table. Perhaps that is the ancestor of the yellow lemons.
While Arabs don’t consume lemons like Iranians, they sprinkle the juice over salads and mix it with flower water before adding it the syrup when making desserts like baklava and Qatayef.
Bahrainis use the whole lemon, including the skin, pith and seeds when cooking their national fish dish called Samaka Harra.
Though used as a vegetable, the lemons are technically a fruit. Qustus al-Rumi was the first one to record the existence of lemons in the 10th century. However, it became popular in the Mediterranean only after Ibn Jami, the personal physician to Muslim leader Saladin, wrote about lemons in the 12th century. Roman philosopher and author Pliny the Elder referred to lemons as “medicinal food.”
The most interesting fact about lemons was recognized by author Tom Neilson, who credits them for saving the Parisians from plague. While lemon trees were cultivated in Europe for a while, their usage was limited due to exorbitant cost and the belief that eating raw lemons was harmful. However, in the 17th century the prices tumbled, the lemon trade flourished and lemonade became popular in Rome, Italy. The trend then spread to other European cities including Paris where it coincided with the onset of plague. The French chef François Pierre la Varenne wrote a lemonade recipe in his cookbook “Le Cuisinier Francois” that popularized the drink especially in Paris. As a result, lemon peels were found everywhere, in the garbage, streets, gutters and other places visited by the rats who nibbled on them.
Even though it was thought airing of clothing prevented the spread of plague in Paris, Neilson believes that limonene found in the peels stopped the spread of plague because it kills fleas and larvae. To this day the compound is used to kill fleas in pets. Later, the English chemist Joseph Priestley invented a carbonation machine that paved the way for carbonated lemonade. Scottish naval surgeon James Lind used oranges and lemons as a remedy to cure scurvy among sailors.
Lemonade found its way to America in the 18th century. It was served by the first lady Lucy when her husband Rutherford B. Hayes banned alcohol from the White House for several years.
Let’s refresh and hydrate ourselves with easy to make Pakistani Shikanjabeen. Mix together 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a big glass of water. Stir until completely dissolved. Add a few drops of orange blossom water to make it delicious.
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Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com. @Frontiers_Of_Flavor
