Beldi Preserved Lemons

Preserved lemons are an authentic, and essential, component of many North African, Mediterranean, and Indian recipes.

Our fragrant beldi lemons are indigenous to Morocco, where they’re picked by hand and cured in sea salt to bring out a deeply briny, intensely lemony taste. Once preserved, the lemon’s pulp and rind are edible and used to add brightness and dimension to tagines, salads, sauce, dressings, and other dishes. Preserved lemons are essential to Moroccan cuisine (classic chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives is a perfect example).

The thinner skin, and fragrant aroma, of these lemons makes them the most highly prized lemons of North Africa. Paula Wolfert, an expert on Moroccan cuisine, considers them the crème de la crème in her book "The Food of Morocco".

These lemons have a delicate "zing", along with a tantalizing sweet and sour aroma, that is unmistakably and evocatively North African.

A few serving ideas:

Add these lemons to tagines, roast chicken, fish, salsas, and salads - all kinds of Mediterranean cooking, to get that delicate citrus flavor.
Make a traditional Moroccan Tagine.
Create your own Ngam nguv, a traditional Cambodian chicken soup with whole preserved lemons.
Combine them in your recipes that use olives, artichokes, seafood, veal, chicken, and rice for added flavor and complexity.
Use them as an accompaniment to curd rice, which is often the last course in South Indian Cuisine.
Add the pickled pulp and liquid to Bloody Marys and other beverages where lemon and salt are used.
Combine preserved lemons with horseradish if you want to make an American-style cocktail sauce.

They are so easy to incorporate into your recipes, simply give them a quick rinse under cool water to remove any excess salt, and then chop them up... you use the entire lemon, rind and all!

Note: preserving the lemons in salt removes the bitterness normally associated with the rind and pith... what you will find is a clean, bright, pure lemon flavor! Take a slice, pop it in your mouth, and see how magical preserved lemons can be!