Lime (Dried) Cooking Notes:

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Persian, Arabic, Central American

Food Pairings: Bread, curries, soups, rice, stuffing, chicken, fish, chillies, garlic, fenugreek, coriander, mushrooms

Serving size: 1 lime if using whole is enough to flavour an entire dish for 6-8 servings. 0.5 grams if powdering.

Flavour: Sugar, Lime, Caraway

Usage: Use dried lime near start of cooking process for slow cooked tagines and curries. Powder to sprinkle on breads, or mix into dry dishes before cooking.

Recipes: Fattoush

Lime (Dried) Technical Notes:

Origin: Somalia

Quality*: Grade AA, Brown

Appearance: Around 2-5 grams per lime. Average lime will be around 3 grams.

Also known as: Citrus aurantifolia, नीबू, नींबू, NIBU, NIMBU, LIMOO, AMANI, 青檸乾

Industry Knowledge: Dried limes are an ancient spice used in numerous Arab and Central American dishes. They are most commonly used to add a sour note to food either by putting them in whole to stews and liquid based dishes, or by powdering. Powders can also be sprinkled onto just about any dish, and has greatly influenced Persian and Arabic cuisine today. The most popular variety is the Persian dried lime due to it's affordability, however the taste of Persian limes pales in comparison to the ancient Somalian or Guatemalan variety of the spice. Here, the sweetness of the lime is more pronounced, something not possible in the Persion limes and normally only found in fresh limes. Additionally, the aroma of a single small lime can perfume an entire dish. In fact, it's so aromatic that it can be smelt from a meter away, and doesn't even need to be closely sniffed! There are other differences between the Somalian and Guatemalan types, including colour and drying methods. This season, we prefer Somalian.

*INDUSTRY SPECIFIC TERMINOLOGY.