Spy Food: A Very Special Squeeze

It catches your eye. Lemons from Sorrento, Italy at $6.99 a pound. The lemons are large and juicy. The color is beautiful, but the color doesn’t increase the cost. Weighing it at a bit over 8 ounces produces an eye popping price when compared to the offering at a local supermarket selling their lemons for 79 cents each.

Still, standing in the Piazza Italian Market and discussing the quality of these lemons with the proprietor, Emily Chandler, the desire to buy and try this unique experience is strong. After all, if you traveled to Sorrento, how would you bring a few of these beautiful lemons back into the country.

This is a lemon where every part of it deserves to be used! So, while preparing dinner, a twist of lemon from the Bella Vita lemon provided an exquisite experience at cocktail time, building confidence in the wisdom of making the investment in a lemon from Italy.

In fact, it was so good that I tried, as suggested in an online story, just enjoying the fruit by itself. Amazingly good!

We enjoyed some lemon juice on our meal and confidence was high with regard to the real lemon expert in the family….my wife.

I explained just how remarkable this experience really was, dining while enjoying this Italian lemon. So, the question was popped….what did she think. “Well,” says she, “it tastes like a lemon.”

High praise, I suppose, from someone who likes fresh lemon juice on most things…and, after all, it really should taste like a lemon.

Like so many things in life, the total experience is what’s important. I’ve never taken so much time focusing a dinner on a lemon….come to think of it, I’ve never written about a lemon.

Go to Piazza. You decide!

And, here is a bit of information found while doing research…something else that’s new…researching lemons!

Growing the perfect lemon is a process Italians take great pride in and celebrate. The process of growing lemons requires an attentive and nurturing caretaker and a warm, subtropical climate. As a lemon tree begins to blossom, a fragrant sweet smell is released. This aroma is captured in the form of lemon essential oils, which are often used for perfume making, as well as adding fragrance to soaps and lotions. As lemons continue to grow and ripen on the tree, they become sweeter. A lemon so sweet and full of flavor, it is often enjoyed plain with just a pinch of salt on top! But it’s not just the juice that is prized — Italians enjoy every part of the lemon, including the peel and rind.