Falstaff Special Boutiquehotels English.pdf

dreams / SOUTHERN

dreams / SOUTHERN FLAVORS < sweet and aromatic that you can eat them thinly sliced and marinated as a salad. SOUR ALL-ROUNDER Lemons are the most important citrus fruit in the kitchen, at least in Europe. Their juice is used to flavour countless dishes, mix salad dressings, and season fruit, Its grated peel refines not only roasted vegetables, braised meat, or desserts from Kaiserschmarren to Delizia al Limone, but also numerous drinks from cocktails to punch. The aromatic power of the plant is not limited to the fruit: the leaves also have a wonderful, somewhat greener citrus aroma that can be used, for example, by wrapping fish in lemon leaves before grilling. The classic Viennese cuisine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also favoured souring with lemons. Because the fruit can be stored comparatively well, it was brought across the Alps to the cosmopolitan city of Vienna in large quantities even back then. The greatest variety of flavours has probab- ly been wrested from the lemon by the chefs of the Middle East and North Africa: They use it fresh and dried, salted and fermented, and season just about every dish with it and its numerous components. This is probably also due to the fact that the Middle East is considered among botanists to be the home of the lemon. Even though it is the citrus fruit par excellence for us, the lemon is not one of the progenitors or mothers of the citrus family. The parents of all citrus fruits are the citron (a type of citrus with a very thick, aromatic peel but hardly any flesh), the mandarin and the pomelo. The family relationships of citrus is notoriously complicated because different species like to cross-pollinate and cross-breed. However, most experts believe that the lemon is a hybrid of citron and an older blend of pomelo and lime. TRIUMPH OF THE LEMON The ancient Greeks and Romans did not yet know the lemon; there is no name for it “LEMONGARDEN SPRIZZ” A declaration of love in yellow INGREDIENTS 6 cl lemonade 3 cl Chartreuse 1 cl lemon juice Fresh herbs Prosecco to pour PREPARATION Shake all ingredients (without Prosecco), then “double-strain” into a wine glass filled with ice and add the Prosecco. Decorate with flowers and herbs. Fruity delicacy. The lemon tart in the “Lemongarden” is an extraordinary and sweet seduction. More lemon pleasure is (almost) not possible. 30

Photos: Andreas Husar, Getty Images, supplied in classical Latin. Citrus illustrations from antiquity, for example from Pompeii, all show the citron. It was not eaten for pleasure, but used as a medicine and air freshener; moreover, it was an important part of the Jewish feast of leaves ritual as early as 300 B.C. (and remains so to this day). It was probably not until the seventh century that the classic lemon arrived in the Mediterranean with Arab conquerors, and by the ninth century at the latest it was planted in what is now Sicily and Spain. From here, it slowly spread to the Christian world. In Bartolomeo Scappi’s influential Renaissance cookbook “Opera dell’arte del cucinare” of 1570, lemons first appear as a garnish for fish and seafood, and their Excutive Chef Ante Udovičić The Executive Chef is not only to be found in the appropriate outfit, but also brings the wonderful fruits manifold and skilfully in wonderful dishes on the plate. aroma has been inextricably linked with aquatic animals ever since. Then in 1583, 13 years later, Ibn Jamiya’s standard ninthcentury work, “The Book of the Lemon,” first appeared in Latin in Venice. It is quite possible that the first lemon trees were planted on Brač at this time – the island was, after all, part of the Venetian Republic for a long time. In Central and Northern Europe, lemons and their divine aroma were long reserved for the upper classes. In the Baroque period, aristocrats passionately established “orangeries” here, where the exotic delicacies flourished. The orangery at Schönbrunn, for example, was founded in 1754 and still exists today. Broader sections of the population did not come to enjoy lemon juice until the late 18th century, after scientists discovered that citrus fruits helped against scurvy, the most feared of all diseases on the sailing ships in a world then very rich in ships. Soon citrus juice became an integral part of the English navy’s rations. Demand skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, and citrus cultivation in the Mediterranean, especially in Sicily, experienced a tremendous boom. According to legend, the Sicilian Mafia also traces its origins to the years of the citrus gold rush: Local landowners, who controlled water, transportation routes and workers, made offers to newly arriving lemon growers that they could not refuse: Anyone who wanted to cultivate or irrigate their fields during the citrus gold rush had to deliver their tithe to them. Soon they also controlled the ports and sales. WINTER FRUIT Lemons ripen in Europe in winter, in January and February, when it also gets cool around the Mediterranean at night. Even though they can hang on the tree for a surprisingly long time even into the summer, they were a purely seasonal speciality until not so long ago. Today, however, they are available all year round and affordable for everyone in every supermarket. Of course, that’s much better than having no lemons at all. But if you really want to know how good they can be, it is best to taste them at “Hotel Lemongarden” freshly picked from the tree. < 31