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Key lime (Citrus aurantifolia) hanging in tree
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We began planting our mini food forest at the turn of the 21st century. As we
embarked on this adventure, we had one key lime tree, probably planted in 1965
when the house was built. This gnarled old beauty, even at about fifty-five
years of age, continues to produce fruit year after year. The act of planting a
fruit tree demonstrates a certain confidence in the future. We enjoy it in our
time and know that we will most likely pass it on to those who come after us.
Our key lime tree did more than hold out the promise of key limes. It also
showed us that the contrived pile of sand and shell we were living on could also
provide us some food.
Key lime trees naturalized in the Florida Keys, perhaps centuries ago.
The far
traveled genes of this singular citrus are believed to have
originated in Asia. Along the way, it acquired new names, for example West Indies lime and
Mexican lime. Groves of key lime trees were intentionally planted in the
Florida Keys at around the turn of the 20th century, at which point it was
rebranded as the key lime. Their commercial success in Florida didn't last
long. The 1926 Miami Hurricane laid waste to those early key lime groves.
Growers replaced them with the hardier, thornless Persian lime. Subsequent
land development replaced many remaining key lime trees with residential
subdivisions for other sorts of transplants. Today, backyard key lime trees
like mine are all that is left of key lime production in the United
States.
In my yard, we know key limes are ready for harvest when they have fallen to
the ground. Picking key limes from the tree can be somewhat hazardous. The
trees have spines. They are large and nasty when the trees and branches are
young. They are smaller, but still potentially painful, as the trees and
branches age. Fallen key limes are usually ripe, yellow, and juicy; however,
once off the tree, key limes will only ripen slightly, if at all. When unripe
and green, key limes are significantly harder to squeeze, hold significantly
less juice, and have significantly less flavor. By collecting key limes from
the ground, I harvest them when they are as juicy as they will ever be. Once
they are off the tree, they start to dry up. In my experience, they dry out
faster in the refrigerator, so I leave them out on the counter.
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A young key lime branch with long sharp spines
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It seems like a bit of magic to me, but the juice from a ripe and very sour
key lime brightens and enhances other flavors. Key lime underlines and
highlights the flavor of avocados and papaya, but my favorite combination is cranberry and key lime. It
is counterintuitive, but adding a splash of key lime juice to cranberry juice
reduces its sharp edge and adds a bright note. My sweetheart buys fresh
cranberries and makes a key lime cranberry sauce from scratch. It is always a
hit at Thanksgiving, and it is a key component of gourmet sandwiches
throughout the year. When my sweetheart is in the mood for a mouth-waking
treat, he spreads his key lime cranberry sauce on his morning toast.
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Key lime pie ingredients.
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By far, the most popular use for key limes is in key lime pie. Aside from
delighting in its taste, about the only thing everyone agrees on is that a key
lime pie is made with key lime juice. Many would also agree that it is best to
use fresh juice. Bottled key lime juice made from concentrate and treated with
preservatives lacks the high sour notes and often has metallic undertones.
Beyond that, there is pronounced disagreement.
One question that has plagued
connoisseurs of key lime pie for decades is whether the key lime filling, if
made properly, should be yellow or green. The answer depends on another key
question - should a ripe key lime be yellow or green? Most people don't know
the answer to this second question. The answer may surprise you. Most fruits
start out green and then change color as they ripen. Green bananas turn
yellow. Green papayas turn orange. Green tomatoes turn red. Green blueberries
turn blue. Like most fruits, key limes are green when unripe. As they ripen,
they turn yellow; however, the color of the pie is dependent on the actual
ingredients. Due to the variety of recipes, the color of key lime pies
vary. If the ingredients include egg yolks, expect a yellow color. If the
ingredients include green food coloring, expect an unnatural, bright green
color and feel free to walk away.
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| My sweetheart's key lime pie is neither green nor yellow, but it is delicious |
Key limes are more acidic than lemons. Much like adding vinegar to a salad or
red wine to a soup, the acidity in key lime juice adds a twang to whatever you
might be cooking. Substitute key lime juice for vinegar in vinaigrette and you
get a tasty salad dressing with a more floral aroma. Recipes for salsa
generally include vinegar or lime juice. My vinegar tree has never produced
anything, but I do have wonderfully productive key lime trees, so I use key
lime juice in mango salsa, as follows.
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Mango salsa ingredients
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Combine the following -
Vegetable or Fruit or some combination
(tomato, corn,
mango, ...)
Chilies
(habanero, jalapeño, Thai, ...)
Fresh herbs
(mint, basil, cilantro, ...)
Onion
Garlic
Key lime juice
Salt
You can dice the ingredients into small pieces or you can throw them in a
blender. You can get fancy and grill or caramelize some of the ingredients. I
put freshly made salsa in the refrigerator for a few hours. As it sits, the
fresh flavors blend together, limned by the bright tartness of the key lime
juice.
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Mango salsa with corn
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The acidity of key lime juice initiates chemical activity in some recipes.
Although I have no personal experience with ceviche, I understand that the
key lime juice in a ceviche marinade changes the texture of seafood. Protein
is made up of chains of amino acids. When the proteins in the seafood are
marinated in the acidic key lime juice, these chains rearrange themselves.
In the case of ceviche, the seafood firms up, as if it had been cooked. I
was curious as to what goes into a ceviche recipe, so I read through a few
of them. My half-baked verdict is that ceviche is basically seafood
marinated in a key lime salsa. I will continue to skip the seafood and enjoy
the salsa.
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Artistic rendition of
key lime juice causing
rearrangement of seafood amino acid chains
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Recently, I experimented with tzatziki, a creamy Greek yogurt sauce/dip
usually made with cucumbers and fresh garlic. I played with a variety of
strong herbs and added a large helping of
Surinam purslane. Thanks to Julie C for the suggestion. I made a version with a hefty dose
of key lime juice to give it a stronger flavor along with some hibiscus
flowers to give it a bit of color. I recommend it.
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Key lime juice and spent hibiscus flowers
are the experimental
ingredients in this tzatziki-to-be.
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Key limes are highly esteemed by bartending professionals.
Unsurprisingly, what they are valued for varies from bartender to
bartender. Some find the size of the fruit makes for a perfect garnish
on a glass. Their special sourness perks up cocktails - key lime
margaritas, key lime Mai Tais, and key lime daiquiris. When it comes to
the Pisco Sour, key limes are said to have been the traditional Peruvian
souring element. As a non-bartending teetotaler, I favor what I call a
key lime fizz - homemade soda made from key lime juice, simple syrup,
and carbonated water. Add some unsweetened cranberry juice, if you are
so inclined. I like getting creative with the blender or juicer making
thickened drinks, such as watermelon/key-lime/mint juice or
orange/key-lime/carrot juice.
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Key limes at varying degrees of ripeness
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Before you juice your key limes, if they have been in the refrigerator,
let them come to room temperature. Some people microwave them for 15
seconds to warm them a bit more. Once warm, you can roll them on a hard
surface to release more juice. Cut them in half across their midline. If
you are only squeezing a couple of key limes, you can juice them by
squeezing between your fingers. As you squeeze out the juice, run it through a strainer to remove the seeds. If you have more than a handful, you may
want to use a tool. There are manual juice squeezers that look very much
like a garlic press. I will go a step further and suggest that you might
be able to use a garlic press for very small key limes. Let me know if
it works. There are also
electric-assist citrus juicers with attachments for smaller fruit. For a
large quantity of fruit, this is a nice option. Once done, you'll
realize that due to the skins, pulp, and seeds, your juice yield is far
less than you anticipated. Part of juicing key limes includes
complaining about how tedious the whole process is. If you decide to
zest your key limes, be ready for even more complaining. You might be
able to avoid the complaining stage, if you keep your mind focused on
the health benefits of key limes, especially Vitamin C and antioxidants.
I'd like to highlight one easy storage method for key lime juice. After
juicing your key limes, pour the key lime juice into ice cube trays and
freeze them. It only takes a few cubes to make a key lime pie. One cube
can supply all the juice you need for two glasses of key lime fizz
(soda). When I first froze key lime juice, I saved these cubes for
months. Much to my dismay, they had shrunk to about 10% of their
original height, when I went to use them. The rest had evaporated in the
freezer. Since then, I make sure to remove the cubes from the tray and
put them in a zip lock bag for long-term freezer storage.
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Citrus greening (Huanglongbing) causes asymmetrical blotchy
mottling of leaves
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A key lime tree requires little care. First and foremost, they need good
drainage, sunshine, and frost-free temperatures. The greatest threat to
citrus trees where I live is citrus greening. This disease arrived in
Florida in 2005, and has since decimated most citrus trees around the
state. In my experience, key lime is relatively immune. Our
oranges, calamondins, and tangelolo all eventually succumbed to citrus
greening. Our key limes appear to be infected, but they continue to
produce. In order to support our infected trees, I spray micronutrients
on the leaves. Over a span of many years, a key lime branch produces
smaller and smaller fruit. Since larger fruit makes for easier juicing,
I have a strong preference for larger fruit. Consequently, every few
years I will prune an older branch and let a younger one take its place.
This seems to rejuvenate the tree and increase the fruit size.
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