The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit

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If citron growing seems like intensive work, the production of kosher citrons adds an extra layer of complexity. To be certified as kosher, or pure, the etrog needs to come from an ungrafted plant. Cultivating ungrafted plants means giving them lots of extra attention and time as they are more vulnerable to disease, but it also keeps the variety pure throughout generations because there's no genetic mixing with other plants, which scientists say may happen when plants are grafted.

I was sent this as a first read copy. I really wanted to like this book and obviously someone who knows much more about books and writing, decided this book was worth publishing so this is just my little honest opinion. I have read National Geographics since I was a child. I have never meet a subject in which I couldn't become somewhat interested. These days lemons are a part of our culinary lives, but there was a time not long ago when these were seen as exotic fruit. People would return from Italy on holiday in the 1950’s with tales of trees laden with fruit, inhaling the heady aroma that the fruit gives.Today the Riviera dei Cedri continues to live up to its name, with many small businesses offering the fruit in creative ways. Visitors to the region can even go on citron tours called La Via del Cedro, which include visits to the orchards, nature walks, tastings and strolls around the ancient Jewish quarters.

I really enjoyed reading about the history of Italy through the lens of their love for and cultivation of citrus. I learned so much about citrus - that it's so much more than oranges and lemons and that citrus has so many uses beyond eating. And I learned so much about the history of Italy vis a vis their cultivation of these plants that originally came from the Himalayas. Predictably given the geography of its explorations this is a book full of digressions. As a writer about Italian gardens and a leader of visiting groups, Attlee can’t help meandering down some alluring botanical or historical pathways with literary references hedging the horticultural hot-beds, from Theophrastus to Hans Christian Anderson, Lampedusa, DH Lawrence and Edward Lear to name a few. I started reading this during a vacation in Tuscany last month. Attlee, a garden historian, does a great job of blending travel, science, and history – and she even includes some recipes, too. Here are a few of the fascinating and unexpected things I learned about citrus fruit:

There is nothing more thrilling for northern European visitors to Italy than the sight of fruit-laden citrus trees. When Hans Christian Andersen first saw a grove of orange trees, he exclaimed: “Here, here is Paradise.” Helena Attlee has travelled the length of Italy in pursuit of citrus, from Castello near Florence, a garden once owned by the Medici family with trees that are 300 years old, to the slopes of Mount Etna, where the garnet-red blood oranges grow. The secret of their extraordinary colour is temperature: “It’s cold, not warmth, that sets blood oranges on fire on the Etna plain.” But oranges are, apparently, relative newcomers. From the mandarin in China, the pomelo in Malaysia and the citron in the Himalayas, the genus has grown to include a vast number of species. Attlee’s sensual prose brings its extraordinary history to life. Her descriptions of the fruit – with their “yellow hands”, “rotund bodies” and “protuberances like long quizzical noses” – are wonderfully evocative. A beautifully written book, infused with the bittersweet scent of citrus fruits and the flavour of Italy. Last October, on the first day of Sukkot, when I opened the white etrog box I'd bought in Berlin from a Chabad rabbi, the citron inside was still perfect. After three months, it hadn't lost any of its marvellous scent. By autumn, the Calabrian farmers are already preparing for the next season, but, Adduci said, "we feel incredibly proud to know that our fruits have reached the homes of hundreds of families around the world." And it is to Italy that Atlee takes us. From the Sicilian terraces full of mandarins and blood oranges, to the Southern Italian groves full of the huge citron and bergamonts. She visits the perfumed gardens of Liguria to see their particularly sour chinotti and witnesses the festival in Ivrea where the inhabitants throw 400 tonnes of oranges at each other. Along her journey she draws together the history of the places and the fruits, sips limoncello on sun soaked terraces, discovers new pastas, meets Rabbis choosing perfect citrons, but mostly lets these fruits permeate her soul. Although admittedly the first few chapters of the book were a bit slow going the deeper you read the more fascinating and mouthwatering the stories. I encourage you to read to the end and visit your local farmers market or grocery store to investigate what varieties of citrus are available to you. Maybe also consider making a blood orange granita, limoncello, or marmalade while you’re at it! Her account of this and other gatherings creates a sense of magic among the fruit trees. Also there is her study of bergamot, Citrus bergamia, a cross between a lemon tree and a sour orange grown on a narrow slice of the Tyrrhenian coast at the very edge of Calabria. Here the produce is the most valuable citrus fruit in the world. While the bergamot has important antiseptic and antibacterial properties, its great economic value lies in its essential oil, used as the fixing agent in the perfume industry.

This domestic reminder evokes marmalade, a name derived from the Portuguese marmelo, or quince. In Italy ‘marmalatta’ is a general description for all kinds of jam with the fruit identified separately. Lccn 2015304966 Ocr tesseract 5.1.0-1-ge935 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9917 Ocr_module_version 0.0.16 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-WL-0000218 Openlibrary_editionOne type of citron, the esrog, has religious significance for Lubavitcher (Hasidic) Jews, who believe Moses sent to Calabria for the fruit to use during the Sukkoth festival [apparently citrons are the “fruit of the goodly tree” mentioned in Leviticus 23:40]; even today Jews import perfect specimens for ritual presentation It appears that lemons first grew wild in Himalayan forests, while all oranges came originally from Assam and Burma, although there is now evidence that some originated in China. These fruits arrived in Italy with the Arabs landing in Sicily in 831 and were first planted in groves on the outskirts of Palermo, especially in the fertile landscape still known as the Conca d’Oro, or golden bowl. This lovely district was no proof, however, against the growth and eventual dominance of the criminal Cosa Nostra: Este librito, escrito por Helena Attlee, una periodista británica experta en jardines italianos, está compuesto de varios ensayos en los que la autora explora las diferentes zonas de Italia donde se cultivan cítricos, y cuenta la historia, particularidades y curiosidades de cada una y del cítrico típico del lugar, ya sean limones, naranjas, quinotos, bergamotas, o alguna de sus peculiares variedades. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-06-25 13:08:12 Autocrop_version 0.0.14_books-20220331-0.2 Bookplateleaf 0010 Boxid IA40579921 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

Again and again, for those of us who don’t yet know the land where the lemon trees bloom, Helena Attlee makes it wonderfully clear that mandarins, marmalade, Eau de Cologne and Earl Grey Tea are no substitute for the real thing.Truly fascinating . . . For many years, Attlee has been collecting evidence for a story of citrus trees in Italy. The result, The Land Where Lemons Grow, is remarkable, excellently produced and essential for all lovers of Italy, their summer libraries and out-of-season itineraries . . . Attlee's book is unmissable for anyone intrigued by the relation between humans' travel, greed and ingenuity and the spread of the plants that we eat, smell and drink Robin Lane Fox, Financial Times A beautifully written book, infused with the bittersweet scent of citrus fruits and the flavour of Italy Guardian If you love eating, traveling and/or have a sweet spot for Italy, The Land Where Lemons Grow is the perfect read. Each chapter pays homage to a different region of Italy where lemons have been revered and delves into the many different varieties that exist. Little did I know this fruit has such connections with the mafia in Sicily, Sephardic Jews, and Salvatore Ferragamo. Attlee also investigates various trades and recipes related to citrus varieties including bergamot, marmalade, and blood oranges. There are also a number of intriguing recipes you can find in the book. Although I have yet to try any of them (some of them are rather odd and require hard to find ingredients) it is so much fun to read. Lemons originated in the Himalayan foothills; all oranges come from Assam or Burma (research suggests China may be another source)