Lemons are as essential to my cooking as garlic, Verjuice, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and quality salt and pepper. I use lemon rind in my game pies, lemon juice squeezed into the cavity of all poultry that I cook, lemon juice to curdle milk for a banana cake, lemons in jam to add extra pectin, in mayonnaise, hollandaise and vinaigrettes. I’m particularly partial to the Meyer lemon in desserts though. Although sweeter than the conventional lemon, it still has a wonderful tang, perfect for lemon curd, pot au crème, semifreddo, or a dense and syrupy lemon and almond cake. And because the Meyer has less acid, it provides an excellent juice for homemade lemonade. A handy tip for extracting more juice from a lemon is to pour boiling water over the whole fruit and leave it for 5 minutes before squeezing it. Or if you have a microwave, heat the fruit on medium for 1 minute and leave to cool a little before squeezing. -MB

Introduce lemon to your table with the below delicious recipes!

1. Lemon Curd Tart with Sour Cream Pastry
2. Lemon and Caper Oven Baked Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Rosemary Cous Cous
3. Broccoli with Almond Lemon Butter
4. Lemon, Garlic and Parmesan Squid Ink Pasta