Have you ever muddled a lime? I mean muddled, not mucked around with or
squeezed or rolled or juiced. It's a technique used by bartenders to crush sugar and fruit in the base of a glass before adding alcohol and ice.

One of my favourite cocktails, the Brazilian 'caipiroska', combines muddled limes with vodka and crushed ice to make a very refreshing pre-dinner cocktail. The lime must be well scrubbed (to remove any wax or dirt), cut into eighths and placed in the base of a sturdy glass with two teaspoons of sugar. You then take a flat-ended rolling pin and, using strong rotating movements, muddle the lime pieces with the sugar until the fruit has exuded its fragrant juices and the skins have released some of their essential oils. Top with with crushed ice and pour over 60ml vodka. Sublime.

If, instead of vodka, you use cachaça (Brazilian sugarcane liquor), it's a caipirinha; with white rum, it's a caipirissima.

Limes are one of the liveliest of fruits. Their sharp sour taste and aromatic perfume give a lift to both sweet and savoury dishes and they are indispensable in many cooling drinks, gin and tonic being a famous
example.

A wedge squeezed over pawpaw - try it on that glorious pinkish-red variety - or banana will get you started in the morning. Squeezed over grilled fish, chicken or steak, lime is tastier than salt. Most seafood benefits - try it on grilled or pan-fried red emperor, garfish, prawns, scallops and farmed native silver perch. Lime juice is used in many south-east Asian dipping sauces and is also used to "cook" fish as in "ceviche". In the Bahamas, it is widely used on conch fish.

The lime ('citrus aurantifolia') seems to have originated somewhere in tropical Asia, possibly in the East Indies, and to have been taken to India and Persia by the Arabs. It is now grown in many tropical countries, often replacing the lemon. A number of varieties are available, the most popular being the bright green glossy skinned Tahitian which is grown commercially in central western and northern New South Wales; the orange-fleshed cold tolerant Rangpur; the Mexican (Key Lime of West Indian), rarely seen in this country; and the Kaffir (or Makrut), the leaf of which is used extensively in Thai food to flavour curries and salads.

 

There is also a remarkable range of true citrus native limes, each with its own unique taste, which include the Finger Lime (long and narrow like a finger, the colour varying from green, through pink to a dark burgundy colour when ripe), the Round Lime or "Dooja" and the drought tolerant Desert Lime.

From these, three different varieties have been bred by the CSIRO at Merbein in northwest Victoria. They include the Blood Lime, a cross between a mandarin and a Finger Lime and characterised by its blood red rind, flesh and juice; the Sunrise Lime, a pear shaped orange fruit that makes an excellent marmalade; and the Outback Lime, a cultivar of the Desert Lime with small green, juicy fruits which ripen at Christmas time.

Chefs who have access to these limes are very excited about them, especially the exquisite Rainforest Pearl Finger Lime which reveals tiny pink pearl-like bubbles when cut open and squeezed. Heaven on an oyster or on top of a tiny tart filled with sour cream and smoked salmon.

But back to the Tahitian lime (which, by the way, is yellow when fully ripe). It's magic added to a sugar syrup and drizzled over a warm butter or coconut cake. Or make the following syrup and use it to enhance your next fruit salad:

Put 250ml water in a small pan with 100g sugar, the juice and zest of one lime, ½ (half) teaspoon cardamom seeds and 3 thin slices peeled fresh ginger. Bring to simmering point and let simmer 2- 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature then add 1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint. Pour over fruit and chill before serving. Now I wouldn't muddle with that.

 

 

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