Lynn from Fargo > wrote:

>Dear Bob,
>About that preserved lemon . . . I gotta know.
>
>I have two jars in my refrigerator. Neither one has been opened. One
>is full of "preserved lemons" I prepared many (many) months ago.
>I've been kinda afraid to open it. It's from a recipe in my reputable
>Moroccan cookbook. The only thing in there is a whole lot of salt,
>unpeeled lemons cut in quarters and some garlic cloves.
>
>The other jar came from my Asian/American store and it's the second
>jar of imported preserved lemons I've bought. I bought and opened the
>first jar a couple of years ago. It came from someplace asian . It
>was definitely not something I wanted to cook with. Smelled very
>acrid and "chemical". I pitched it. The second jar is from
>Thailand, "Double Horses Brand". Contains: "lemon, water, salt,
>citric acid. sodium benzoate and sodium metabisulphite as
>preservatives". The photo on the can is of some beautiful small
>limes. Inside the jar are small, whole, smooth, yellow-greenish
>fruits in clear liquid (not syrupy).

>Are these ANYTHING like the preserved lemon you use with your tagine

I would toss the store-bought preserved lemons. I have never
found commercial preserved lemons that were anywhere near as
good as ones made at home. They're easy to make, too, and we
use them for up to a year (usually make them in the January to March
time frame and then use them all year, although we haven't yet
started this year's batch).

Steve