Fes – This recipe reveals one of the secrets of Moroccan Cuisine. In detailed steps, you will learn how to make preserved lemons.
For longer food storage, they dry fruits, vegetables, and meat; they preserve butter; and they pickle lemons and olives.
In this recipe we will introduce you to a traditional way that Moroccans use to preserve lemons and use them in their dishes to add extraordinary flavours.
Known as Lhamd Marakad or Mssiyar, preserved lemons are lemons which have been preserved in salt and their own juices for few weeks before they become ready for use.
They add a salty, distinctive lemon flavour to Moroccan Tagines, sauces and salads. In Morocco, you can buy preserved lemons in stores, but for those who can’t find them can easily make their own at home.
Ingredients:
7 lemons (Mayer lemons are better).
½ to 1 cup coarse salt.
1 glass jar.
Way of preparation:
- Wash the lemons well and wipe them with a dry and clean dish towel.
Close firmly and save in a dark place - Make two incisions on the top of each lemon lengthwise downward shaped ‘ X’ so that they open up but stay attached.
- Put one teaspoon of coarse salt inside each lemon.
- Put the lemons on a clean glass jar one by one.
- Press the lemons very firmly in the jar to get the juices flowing.
- Cover the jar tightly and let it in a dry and dark place.
- Every two or three days, open the jar and compress the lemons to release more juices.
It should look like this
The pickled lemons will be ready to use in a month, then keep them in the refrigerator for several months.
Rinse the lemons to remove salt before using them for your dishes.
Serve them with salads, Tagines, chickens and fish.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
