The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

The peel of the Lemon contains an aromatic bitter oil of great value in flavouring, being frequently used in cookery for the same purpose as Chablis or other good wines and with better effect. The juice partakes very slightly of the aroma, and is used in cookery for many purposes, not only on account of its acidity, being frequently used in preference to vinegar, but to bring out or intensify the flavours and whiteness of delicate white flesh such as veal and fish. Lemon-growers indulge in a variety of manufactures which in some cases might be better dispensed with, as the products have to pass through many hands before they reach us, and are consequently subject to considerable adulteration. Lemon-juice is frequently adulterated by the addition of slightly-sweetened water and citric acid; but the medicinal value is thereby lost or considerably modified, that consisting of a combination of potash with the citric acid. Essence and oil of Lemon are open to adulterations which deteriorate their aroma, but in the production of candied Lemon-peel the growers are rarely at fault. The best time to purchase Lemons for keeping is in the months of June and July, when they are freshly imported. A good stock can be laid by if the Lemons are carefully selected and picked over, wiped perfectly dry, and hung in nets in a cool, dry, well-ventilated room. Another mode of keeping them is to put them in a jar and cover with butter-milk, changing the butter-milk about once every two or three weeks ; but the butter-milk might prove a difficulty for this purpose, as it is not always at command. The immense value that Lemons are to the culinary artist, whether for sweets or savouries, is shown in the following receipts, and in those which are to be found throughout this Encyclopaedia. The juice is used in great quantities for acidulating drinks, confectionery, and other purposes. It is best pressed from the Lemon Fig. 1054. Hand Lemon-squeezer. by mechanical means, such as the hand-squeezer (see Fig. 1054), or in a more convenient style by a fixed machine (see Fig. 1055), the foot of which is made fast Lemons — continued. to the table, or on a still larger and more extensive and complete scale, by a screw-press (see Fig. 1056). See also Bergamot, Citron, Limes, and Oranges. Baked Lemon. — Bake a Lemon for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. When baked, cut it at one end and scoop out the inside ; it can be eaten with either sugar or molasses, according to taste. This is a splendid remedy for hoarseness. Candied Lemon-Peel. — (1) Cut the Lemons in halves, remove all the pulp, and put the skins into cold water. Let them remain for a fortnight without changing the water or adding to it, at the end of which time boil in the water they were steeped in till tender, strain, put them when nearly dry into a jar, and pour over a syrup made of loaf sugar and water boiled till clear ; let them remain in this for a week or ten days and then boil gently in it till they look clear. When returned to the jar the syrup, after For details respecting Culinary Processes , Utensils, Sauces, Ac,, referred to, see under their special heads. Lemons —continued. the bailing, may not be quite sufficient to cover them, if so cut the peels in halves or quarters and they will take up less space.