Powdered Lime Peel

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Powdered Lime Peel

Lime Peel Powder is an elegant study in simplicity that polishes, and provides depth to, the abilities of an accomplished cook. The powdered peel provides a ‘lighter touch’ – suggesting only a hint of citrus – to balance flavours and add a hint of mystery to many dishes: a little something extra that captures the attention of an appreciative diner. Simultaneously, Lime Peel Powder is an effective solution to a nagging problem: you never have fresh limes on hand when you need them for some grated peel or juice.

Regular readers will know by now that I adore all citrus fruit. OK, maybe not pomelo’s and their darkness seeking mustiness so much, but as for the rest ... Although slowly improving in availability, fresh limes are not a regular feature in the fruit sections of most of the regular grocery chain stores in Pretoria, South Africa. Even the upmarket establishments have them only intermittently and then usually at an eye-watering premium. Ironically, stabilised and sweetened lime juice is locally quite freely available, but this is not always ideal for all uses.

A few years back I have taken to buying two to three of the prepacked polystyrene trays of limes (usually packed 6 – 8 per tray) whenever I could find them at our local greengrocer, provided the price was right. These little emeralds were promptly grated for their peel, juiced and the peel and juice frozen for later use. By the way, it works an absolute charm to freeze the fresh lime juice in an ice cube tray and storing the frozen cubes in a suitably sized Ziploc bag in the freezer. However, lime juice contains a lot of sugar and the cubes needs to be stored at -20°C or lower or the surface of the cubes remain sticky and then tend to adhere together to eventually morph into a frozen lump that requires the application of your heaviest chef’s knife to separate frozen chunks from. Not quite optimal, but still a useful technique for preserving the bright, sharp juice.

Bulk grated lime peel stored in a securely closed plastic container in the deep freeze has a multitude of merits. However I have found repeated cycles of thawing it before use and then re-freezing afterwards, dulls the taste and particularly the flavour. And who has the time and self discipline to divide the freshly grated peel from 6 – 8 limes into three or four nifty little Ziploc style bags and freeze those to dampen the effect of repeated freezing and thawing cycles? I most certainly don’t, and I’m ‘retired’.

I have found Lime Peel Powder to be an elegant solution that overcomes both the flavour dulling and availability problems neatly. Yes, it still has to be stored at preferably -18°C, but the powder stays loose in the freezer as long as it does not absorb any moisture or have liquid spilt on it. Yet the taste, flavour and aroma stays bright and crisp irrespective of how many times it was removed from frozen storage.

TOP

Lime Peel Powder of course does not replace grated lime peel for use in baking. Freshly grated lime peel has no peer in imparting a deep and clear lime flavour and taste to a hot milk sponge cake, and the fresh juice gives any simple icing mixture a zing that is an absolute delight and joy, shattering the often cloying sweetness of such icings. I therefore still keep frozen, grated lime peel on hand for use in flavour intensive applications.

Lime Peel Powder has more subtle uses. It extends and improves the well rounded cook’s repertoire of little surprises that he or she have stowed away up his or her sleeve to elevate and accentuate whatever is on the menu for the meal at hand. Some of my favourite uses for Lime Peel Powder are:

As a substitute for lemon juice in the mashing of ripe, luscious avocado slathered on lightly toasted brown bread. Use a few drops of red wine or cider vinegar to boost the avo puree’s acidity and prevent it from turning brown.
For sprinkling over thinly sliced tomatoes on a fresh cheese, tomato & onion sandwich. Use pink Himalayan rock salt and some dried marjoram to season, and that sandwich will provide a glimpse of what entering the Pearly Gates may be like.
Combing the powder with some ground rosemary, finely crushed dried juniper berries, Bay Leaf Powder and crushed garlic powder as a seasoning rub for pork chops about one hour prior to slowly pan frying that pig to perfection; and serving it with heavily buttered potato mash containing a smidgeon of grated parmesan.

Lime Peel Powder, similar to Lemon Peel Powder and Orange Peel Powder, is very easy to prepare, requiring a little bit of patience, a modicum of knife skill, a very sharp; thin bladed utility knife (with some flexibility in the blade) and a smallish, rotating blade type coffee grinder. The safety requirements for using an electrical, rotating blade coffee grinder was discussed in the recent Bay Leaf Powder post and will not be repeated here. And keep your fingers out of the way of the utility knife blade too!

The wedges of fruit flesh removed from the lime sections can either be frozen as is for addition to baked chicken or pork dishes at a later stage, or you can liquidise it in a food blender (or with a hand held electrical blender stick). Filter the liquidised fruit through a clean piece of mutton cloth (or muslin) and freeze the juice in an ice cube tray.

Store the Lime Peel Powder in the deep freeze, preferably at -18°C or lower. It will last for months on end. Discard when the flavour and aroma becomes dull and lifeless when removed from the freezer. Oxygen and sunlight, direct or indirect, are the mortal enemies of the flavour components (mostly reactive terpenes) in the ground peel. Very low temperature slows the action of oxygen and prevents spoilage from mildew.

TOP

LIME PEEL POWDER

– PRINT RECIPE –

Recipe yields:

± 60 ml Powder

Preparation time:

± 25 Minutes

Drying time:

± 3 Days

Grinding time:

15 Minutes

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Electrical coffee grinder, blade type.

1 x Flexible, thin bladed kitchen utility knife, very sharp.

Ingredients:

Large limes

5 – 6

Method:

Wash the limes with warm soapy water to remove the outer wax layer. Rinse well and dry. For organically produced limes, simply wipe with a clean, moist cloth.
Cut each lime into 8 sections lengthwise. Carefully slice the fruit segments away from the peel with a sharp, thin bladed kitchen knife. Try to avoid including some of the fruit cells onto the white pith section. Trim excessive pith away – if deemed necessary.
Freeze the lime fruit segments for later use in stews, casseroles and desserts.
Lay the peel wedges, skin side down, in a single layer on waxed paper or use old egg cartons for faster drying. A metal wire cooling rack will also work well. Leave the peels for three days or so in a quiet, warm spot until dried and brittle. Dry one day longer if the peel is still leathery.
Collect the dried peels and break them into shards. Using short pulses (to avoid burning out the grinder motor), grind batch wise to a fine powder in a blade type coffee grinder. Use a fine sieve to sift the ground peel from the grinder when it appears to be done. Return any residue to the grinder along with a new batch of broken peel. Repeat until all the peel is ground.
Combine the Lime Peel Powder siftings into a screw top container and store the powder in your deep freeze, preferably at -18°C or lower.
The stem ends will probably not completely grind up even after several attempts. Discard them, and any other material not fully ground, into your pot plants for a spot of organic fertilizer.

TOP

Comments:

If experiencing rainy or cold weather, dry the peels in a stove’s warming drawer or an oven at its lowest setting. If drying by oven, check the peel every 30 minutes. Remove the peel when dry and brittle before it becomes discolored. Heat, oxygen and residual moisture are the enemies of the essential oils in the dried peel. Avoid exposing the dried peel to excessive quantities of heat and oxygen.
Use a moist cloth to wipe out the grinder’s interior chamber after use. Beware the blade.
Grind an equal measure of uncooked rice and white sugar in the grinder if any lemon aroma remains after cleaning.
Do not use a burr (or opposing roller) type coffee grinder to prepare the powder. Your Wiener Mischung and Italian blends will forever after have an undertone of lime and that may be distressing to get used too.

TOP

Lime Fruit:

Limes, being the sharpest member of the citrus family, have an established culinary and social association with summer. The vast number of lime juice containing cocktails, which invariably all have a paper umbrella and / or some form of pineapple or coconut associated with it, eloquently attest to this bond. And it is good and right that this should be so.

Limes possess prominent notes of floral (particularly lilac), pine, eucalyptus and spice in its flavour profile. The juice is only mildly sweet, but notably acidic and quite bitter although it ironically contains large quantities of sugar. This pig headed and domineering feistiness make limes eminently suitable for pairings with other big and boisterous flavours.

Lime juice can quite dramatically shake up staid old maids. A personal favourite is to drizzle a tablespoon of lime juice over roasted butternut squash just as it escapes the oven. And a healthy slug of lime juice added to lemon & herb marinade forces any sedate battery chicken to do vigorous reverse somersaults all day long. Chop some tomatoes and a touch of red onion for salsa and drape it with fresh lime juice to temper the viciousness of any Vindaloo, or introduce any grilled or barbecued pork chop into the deeper mysteries of the Universe.

Lime juice is a near perfect foil for the salt & brine of preserved anchovies and other salted meats as well as South-East Asian fish sauce. The combination of lime juice with nam pla or nuoc mam in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines is legendary. Acidity is of course the culinary opposite of saltiness as sweet opposes bitter.

Popular pairings of lime with other playmates include:

bananas	coriander / cilantro	rum
basil	coconut	white fish
chilli *	lemon
cinnamon / cassia **	raspberries

* Lime & chilli is a cornerstone of Mexican cuisine.

** Lime and cassia is the foundation of almost every cola drink.

To conclude: the versatility of lime fruit in any form is only restricted by the limits of an adventurous cook’s imagination. Limes are perhaps a suitable metaphor for the hackneyed old saying that “dynamite comes in small packages”.