citron

A large ovoid semitropital fruit with a rough, uneven, thin yellowish-green rind, that looks like a huge lumpy lemon. The edible part of the fruit is small and surrounded with a thick white inner rind grown mainly for it's peel, which is candied. Before being candied, the peel is processed in brine and pressed to extract citron oil, used to flavor liqueurs and to scent cosmetics. It is difficult to find in the U.S. and is most commonly available around the holiday season. It is generally sold in a small dice, often part of a premixed candied fruit mix intended for use in fruit cake. The fingered citron, which looks like a yellow, multi-tentacled octopus, is also used as a flavoring rather than being eaten out-of-hand.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round