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His Royal Highness King Henry the Eighth had six wives, one navy, several armies, a keeper of the royal pillow and someone responsible for the royal salads. The King was very fussy about his salads which contained at least 40 different leaves. But his favourite leaf was the lemon leaf. Jackie French also loves lemon leaves because they smell wonderful, and the young leaves add good flavour to a salad. Older leaves are too tough to eat, but they do have other uses. |
Old lemon leaves
Old lemon leaves can be used in a similar fashion to kaffir lime leaves, but have the advantage of being easier to grow than the lime leaves which require a hotter climate. The lime or old lemon leaves can be used in a variety of ways to flavour dishes. They can be placed in a curry to accentuate the curry flavour or they can be threaded on chicken kebabs. Lamb kebabs can be marinated in a mix of olive oil, garlic and large quantities of lemon leaves. When cooking trout, put some lemon or kaffir lime leaves in the trout and baste with olive oil, then grill. The taste is fit for a king.
Young lemon leaves
When adding younger lemon leaves to a salad, make sure that they are very young and only add two or three, otherwise they will be much too strong.
Every house needs a lemon tree, as they provide fruit and leaves for the kitchen. After all, his Royal Highness could never be wrong.
Further information
Other Jackie French ideas are available in her new book Making Money from your Garden (Earth Garden Magazine, 1997, rrp $9.95). Available from book stores and newsagents throughout Australia.