Lemon: A Global History (Edible)

Vital to food and drink, the always-refreshing lemon has a fascinating story to tell, a journey intertwining the East and the West, the Old World and the New. In this engaging and original volume, Toby Sonneman traces the remarkable adventures of an extraordinary fruit over the last millennium.The lemon was born in India, inheriting its fragrance from its mysterious ancestor, the citron, sacred to many of the world’s great religions. It travelled with Arabs along ancient trade routes, came of age in Sicily and Italy, and sailed to the New World with Columbus. In seventeenth-century Europe it was adored as an exotic luxury; at the end of the eighteenth-century it won recognition as a cure for scurvy, saving the lives of thousands of sailors in the British Royal Navy. The 1900s saw the lemon’s rise to commercial and culinary success in a Southern California citrus empire, and the discovery of the Meyer lemon in China by the eccentric plant explorer Frank Meyer.Toby Sonneman draws on her background as a fruit picker, writer and chef to examine how lemons are used in cooking, and remedying countless health and household maladies. She examines the language of lemons, from Persian to American slang, and takes the reader on a journey to lemon orchards in Sicily, the Amalfi Coast and Southern California.Richly illustrated, Lemon is supplemented with delicious recipes for sweet and savoury dishes and beverages. This lively, refreshing work will delight all readers who love food, history, travel or culture.