Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn
Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die Goldorangen glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
(Trans)
“Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow?
Where in darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow?
A soft wind blows from the pure blue sky,
Perhaps Goethe’s best-known lyric, the lines taken from his ‘Mignon’, illustrate Italy’s wonderful country panoramas of endearing lemon trees and other citrus fruits. Coming over the Brenner pass from the grey winter of Weimar the sight of lemon groves hugging the shores of the Lake of Garda, tempering the area’s mountain climate raised ecstatic thoughts in the beleaguered poet’s mind. Today the lemon groves of Lake Garda still survive although sadly there is a shortage of hands to tend them and many have been abandoned. To see more extensive lemon groves one must venture further south in the peninsula and principally on the Campanian coast, the birthplace of that delectable nectar liqueur called Limoncello.
However, throughout Italy, birthplace of ice cream, the most luscious lemon ices may be found which for me is the best way to assuage the parching heat of the country’s summers.
Nevertheless, there appears to be one item derived from lemons which is virtually impossible to find in the ‘Bel Paese’. It’s lemon curd, that high Victorian spread without which any teatime would be sorely lacking.
The other week my desperate need to be satisfied by this bijou of jams reached fever pitch. No place seemed to offer anything approaching lemon curd although pasticcierie supplied pastries with a lemon tinge and I even found some delicious lemon biscuits in a local supermarket.
I decided, therefore, to make my own lemon curd and came up with this recipe which has offered brilliant results:
Ingredients
2 lemons, zest and juice
100g caster sugar
50g butter
2 eggs, beaten
Method
Put the lemon zest, juice, sugar and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Stir occasionally until the butter has melted. Then, with a whisk or fork, stir in the beaten egg. Continue gently whisking the mixture over the heat for around ten mins until it becomes thick like custard.
Pour the ambrosial concoction into a jar and allow to cool.
Spread the curd on a slice of bread either toasted or not and enjoy its tangy texture, so much better than the usual sort one is forced to get from supermarkets!
Soon we shall be able to bring our own lemon trees out from their cosy winter hibernation in our log-shed where they have been protected from Jack Frost and let them breathe the temperate air of spring. I am sure some of their fruit will be used to make us more lemon curd!
With so much that is indescribably awful happening in our Europe at this moment it does help to have a few goodies to taste and, rather like Goethe’s lemons, take the mind away from those horrid actualities.
