Fresh bergamot!!

On a whim, I went to the Alemany Farmer’s Market this morning, in search of duck eggs, largish Meyer lemons, and other interesting exotics.  I was considering making candied lemon peel, just to see what it would be like, and when I went to the place where I found the citrons, I found Seville oranges (usually used in marmalade), so I bought a couple of pounds of those too.  Just as I was turning away, one of the workers brought out a small box, and I read, “Bergamot”!

“Bergamot!” I gasped.  “Is that really bergamot you’ve got there?”

“Yes,” they said, “and yuzu”.

Well, I’d had yuzu before (it’s a Japanese lemon variant), but you may recall that I’d been searching for fresh bergamot for over a year, ever since discovering that wonderful candied bergamot peel.  So I hastily bought up all the bergamot they had (it was only a few pounds), and hastened home with my wonderful find.

So now I am candying about a quart apiece of bergamot peel, Meyer lemon peel, and Seville orange peel.  In about another ten days I’ll be done, and then I can render a final verdict on which ones are better and how they compare to the candied citron I already made.

What on earth I’m going to do with all that candied citrus I’m not sure, but Bonnie was kind enough to provide a recipe for chocolate cake with candied citron, and I bet it would be just as good with other candied citrus zest, too!  (Especially the oranges, which naturally pair very well with chocolate.)  And there’s always fruitcake…I got a great fruitcake recipe from a friend  of the family, who is looking for someone else to take up her fruitcake tradition, and I want to try it out this weekend as well.

Oh, and for the record, bergamot orange pulp is incredibly tart, like a lemon, with a not particularly distinguishing flavor.  Seems the incredible fragrance is all in the peel.

I would have made marmalade,  but Mike and I are trying to eat lower-carb, and marmalade is sort of useless if you’re not eating toast.  When we’ve both managed to lose the weight we want to lose (hopefully soon!), I may make a batch then. 

By the way, if you too have been consumed with my cat’s curiosity about fresh bergamot, it turns out the farm sells their citrus online.

Weaving-wise, I have now beamed on 18 of 24 inches and expect to finish tomorrow, especially since it’s rainy (or at least shower-y) and I can’t go riding.  Hopefully the threading will go quickly!