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The Gourmand's Lemon. A Collection of Stories and Recipes
Join the culinary experts at The Gourmand journal on an in-depth exploration of the literary, linguistic, historic, and gastronomic legacy of lemons, where the line between food and art is happily blurred. Featuring original recipes that celebrate the versatility and complexity of the king of citrus in the second volume of the best-selling series.
255 pages, Hardcover
Published March 4, 2024
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July 14, 2025
The Gourmand's Lemon is a beautiful book to behold. My first impression: "It’s a coffee table book”! But upon exploring inside this sumptuous book, I discovered thoughtful essays, beautiful photography, and a handful of quite-good recipes. All embrace the idea of, or physical traits of, the lemon.
The book has inspired me to look at lemons in a new light. Though I have always loved lemons and use them almost every day in some recipe or another, I didn’t give them much thought beyond the zest or zing they add to various dishes. And though I appreciate lemons as they appear in Dutch still lifes, The Gourmand's Lemon highlights their role in art across genres and in literature, music, film, and design. Who would have guessed the humble lemon was so inspiring?
The history of lemons comes to light in the chapters "Promiscuous Citrus" and "Money, Power, and Lemons". In the first, the genetics of lemons are discussed in layman’s language, and in the second, the Medici family’s history of lemon cultivation and profit is explored. I learned that the Medicis, the prominent banking and political family of Florence during the Renaissance, were really into lemons, evidenced by their expansive groves at the Villa di Castelo, which featured over 80 species of lemons alone. Given the Medicis were also into art, it’s of no surprise that the Medici family commissioned artist Bartolomeo Bimbi to paint Cedri e Limoni (1715) [Cedars and Lemons], which features various species of lemons within the Medici grove. Bimbi’s painted lemons include a numbered key at the bottom of the artwork with the name of each species, and given its meticulous detail, it's allowed historians to maintain the Medici grove as it still stands today with the same species of lemon trees.
Another two chapters I enjoyed, both related to design, were "Squeezed Inside Out" and "Plastic People". The latter was about how the little plastic lemon bottle we see at the grocery store (presumably containing real lemon juice) was invented. The challenge with its development was more about the molding of plastic for a consumer item than about the lemon juice itself. The plastic lemon bottle used new technology in the era of the mid-1950s, where liquid polyethylene was injected into hollow container molds. The other was about an iconic, though impractical, lemon juicer titled the Juicy Salif, designed by Philippe Starck. This tall (twelve inches), sleek juicer, made of cast aluminum, looks more like a three-legged spider than a practical kitchen item. It hit the market in 1990 under the Italian brand Alessi and is still for sale today. It’s a very chic, albeit impractical, item to have in the kitchen.
It was a joy to read and peruse The Gourmand's Lemon pages with the photographs and images featuring everything lemon.
The book has inspired me to look at lemons in a new light. Though I have always loved lemons and use them almost every day in some recipe or another, I didn’t give them much thought beyond the zest or zing they add to various dishes. And though I appreciate lemons as they appear in Dutch still lifes, The Gourmand's Lemon highlights their role in art across genres and in literature, music, film, and design. Who would have guessed the humble lemon was so inspiring?
The history of lemons comes to light in the chapters "Promiscuous Citrus" and "Money, Power, and Lemons". In the first, the genetics of lemons are discussed in layman’s language, and in the second, the Medici family’s history of lemon cultivation and profit is explored. I learned that the Medicis, the prominent banking and political family of Florence during the Renaissance, were really into lemons, evidenced by their expansive groves at the Villa di Castelo, which featured over 80 species of lemons alone. Given the Medicis were also into art, it’s of no surprise that the Medici family commissioned artist Bartolomeo Bimbi to paint Cedri e Limoni (1715) [Cedars and Lemons], which features various species of lemons within the Medici grove. Bimbi’s painted lemons include a numbered key at the bottom of the artwork with the name of each species, and given its meticulous detail, it's allowed historians to maintain the Medici grove as it still stands today with the same species of lemon trees.
Another two chapters I enjoyed, both related to design, were "Squeezed Inside Out" and "Plastic People". The latter was about how the little plastic lemon bottle we see at the grocery store (presumably containing real lemon juice) was invented. The challenge with its development was more about the molding of plastic for a consumer item than about the lemon juice itself. The plastic lemon bottle used new technology in the era of the mid-1950s, where liquid polyethylene was injected into hollow container molds. The other was about an iconic, though impractical, lemon juicer titled the Juicy Salif, designed by Philippe Starck. This tall (twelve inches), sleek juicer, made of cast aluminum, looks more like a three-legged spider than a practical kitchen item. It hit the market in 1990 under the Italian brand Alessi and is still for sale today. It’s a very chic, albeit impractical, item to have in the kitchen.
It was a joy to read and peruse The Gourmand's Lemon pages with the photographs and images featuring everything lemon.
Displaying 1 of 1 review