The Guardian Weekly

How to get the tang of citrus in your cooking without taking the pith

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com ANNA BERRILL IS A FOOD WRITER

I have a citrus intolerance, so an awful lot of recipes are off limits. What can I substitute for it? Jane, Chester, England, UK

Citrus brings welcome sharpness, sweetness and freshness to food, cutting through the rich, buttery dishes that winter so often calls for. But when life doesn’t give you lemons (or limes, oranges and grapefruit), Ravinder Bhogal looks to the Middle Eastern spice sumac (above). “It’s sharp and sherbetty,” says the chef-patron of Jikoni in London. “If you were making a dip, for example, and couldn’t use lemon, finish it with sumac and you’ll get the same level of acidity.”

Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, the chef-founder of Casa and Paco Tapas in Bristol, and executive chef at Decimo in London, agrees. He sprinkles sumac (and a drizzle of olive oil) over cooked fish: “That, for me, is the closest you can get to replicating that citrus flavour. I put it on everything: rice, eggs, salad.” The latter is a good pairing with sumac, says Chaya Pugh, a development chef at the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, in the dressing or mixed with seeds to sprinkle on top. Alternatively, Sanchez-Iglesias peps up salads with pickle juice, be that from kimchi, pickled onions or even pickled eggs: “Use a little of the liquid to make the dressing.”

Tamarind could also be used to get citrus-free sharpness. Also worth exploring are pineapple juice, which is “a wonderful tenderiser” that’s “perfect with meat, especially pork belly”; sour plums (pickled or Japanese umeboshi), which Pugh chops or blitzes before adding to soups, stuffings and roasts; and passion fruit juice – “Use that to make curd.”

John Javier, an executive chef at The Tent (at the End of the Universe) in London, is a fan of verjus, which is made by pressing under-ripened grapes. It’s tart and acidic, and, for Javier, much more than a citrus substitute: “I season cold broths and raw fish with it, and it’s also good in sauces [think beurre blanc],” he says. “Verjus has a strong flavour, though, so start with a small amount.” It also works in granita. (If you’re hankering for drizzle cake, Pugh suggests swapping citrus for pomegranate molasses in the icing.)

Vinegars are useful for bringing acidity, contrast and balance to the party. “If you’re looking for a sweet sharpness, go for red-wine or sherry vinegar,” Bhogal says. “For something fruity, try apple cider vinegar. And if you’re making a mustard dressing, go for champagne or white-wine vinegar.” Or, she adds, simply crack open a bottle of white wine to cut through a risotto or fish stew, and pour yourself a glass while you’re at it.

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2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://theguardianweekly.pressreader.com/article/282608856956124

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