Nikki Duffy
LATIN NAME
Tahiti lime: Citrus latifolia. Key lime: Citrus aurantifolia. Kaffir lime: Citrus hystrix
ALSO KNOWN AS
Persian lime (Tahiti lime)
MORE RECIPES
Muhammara; Carrot soup with ginger and coriander; Noodle salad with spicy peanut butter dressing; Raw sprout salad with sesame, ginger and lime; Coconut, spinach and apple sambal; Velvet crab curry; Rice and fish with wasabi dressing; Roast jerk chicken; Fragrant beef curry; Spiced papaya salsa; Mango and banana salad; Piña colada; Green tomato, cumin and green chilli chutney
SOURCING
citruscentre.co.uk (for British-grown kaffir lime leaves); (for fresh leaves and fruit)
Significantly sharper than lemon, lime is a lesson in the transformative power of acidity. Thriving best in hotter, steamier conditions than their big yellow cousins, limes are used in the cooking of many tropical countries, where the refreshing effect of their aromatic sourness is particularly appreciated.
Fruits with minimal acidity tend to disappoint, and no more so than the lime. The acid-less nature of a breed known as the ‘Palestine Sweet’ lime makes them easy to consume in quantity. The British navy exploited this in years gone by, feeding them to its ‘limey’ sailors in order to ward off scurvy, but the flavour is insipid.
The common-or-garden supermarket lime is the ‘Tahiti’. Big, juicy and seedless, this is the one to juice into a lusciously cooling minty mojito, to squeeze over perfectly ripe papaya flesh or sprinkle into a banana smoothie. In fact, lime juice has a wonderful seasoning effect on all very sweet fruits: it’s lovely with ripe strawberries, and whole lime segments can be mingled with mango in a salad. Lime combines beautifully with coconut in any number of cakes and cookies and is a surprisingly good playmate for dark chocolate too.
This citric powerhouse is also a great balancer in savoury dishes. In the raw fish dish ceviche, it effectively cures the fish. It is also lovely tossed – in slivers – through a salad of shaved fennel to serve alongside smoky barbecued fish. Alternatively, beat the zest, along with garlic and chilli, into butter to be melted on steak or chicken, or hot cobs of corn.
The ‘Key’ lime (also known as the West Indian lime) is very small – not much bigger than a walnut – and tart, with a spicy quality. Their sharp flavour is famously used to cut through all the sugar, condensed milk and egg yolk in a classic key lime pie (although you can use ordinary limes for this) and their aromatic character was the original basis for the iconic Rose’s lime juice and marmalade. They are also de rigueur in a good rum punch. I’ve never found key limes for sale in the UK but you can buy the plants and raise them yourself.
The kaffir lime, also called the makrut lime, is another hard-to-find speciality. It has an intensely floral, perfumed flavour – less fresh and bright than a standard Tahiti lime. The fruit and leaves are chock-full of fragrant essential oils and you will see them ooze from the skin if you squeeze it. The leaves, with their distinctive, figure-of-eight shape (two lobes on one stalk), prevail in authentic Thai and Laotian cooking. In fact, some would say that if you don’t make your Thai curry with fresh kaffir lime leaves, then it’s not really a Thai curry at all. Unfortunately, fresh kaffir lime leaves are almost impossible to find in the UK. You can buy them dried but these are a poor substitute – worth using, but only just.
You can order kaffir lime leaves ‘fresh’ from online specialists but, if they are imported (as most are), they will have been previously frozen in order to meet strict EU regulations (freezing kills off bugs and bacteria that could infest other plants). They can still be good but often lack the verve of the freshly picked leaves. Luckily, there are a few growers producing properly fresh kaffir lime leaves in the UK. Sometimes these find their way into supermarkets, but your best bet is to buy direct from a specialist nursery. One or two growers also sell the fruit itself when in season (from August through the autumn).
Whole dried limes look somewhat unappealing (brown and shrunken), but they are a flavoursome ingredient in Arabian and Iranian cooking. Sometimes pierced and added whole to simmering stews or boiling rice, they are also crushed into a zesty, citrus-spicy powder.
The skin of a lime can range from deep forest green to sunshine yellow, or be a mottled amalgam of both, depending on the maturity of the fruit. The best way to tell if a lime is likely to be good and juicy is if it feels full and heavy in your hand and has just a little give when you squeeze it. Nevertheless, even plump limes rarely give up their juice quite so readily as lemons or other citrus fruits. To really set it loose and maximise yield, roll the lime over a hard surface, pressing down firmly with your hand, to rupture some of the membranes inside. As with all citrus, if you want to use the zest, it’s best to buy unwaxed fruit.
This dairy-free mousse, thickened with avocado, is light and creamy with a lovely limey tang to it. It’s also very quick and easy to make. Serves 4
3 ripe avocados
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
4 tsp clear honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
3 limes
A little grated or slivered fresh coconut, to finish
Peel, halve and de-stone the avocados. Put the flesh into a blender or food processor along with the coconut oil, honey, vanilla and salt.
Finely grate the zest from 1 lime and set it aside.
Juice all 3 limes and add the juice to the blender. Blitz for up to 5 minutes to achieve a really smooth, silky paste.
Spoon the mousse into 4 small dishes and sprinkle with the coconut and reserved lime zest. Serve straight away or refrigerate, covered, for up to 48 hours.