Jars of these typically Moroccan pickled lemons are available in many supermarkets but they always seem to have a faintly chemical taste. It is well worth making your own as they only take minutes to put together and last virtually indefinitely.
Do not be tempted to use ‘coarse’ sea salt instead of the Maldon flakes, as they will not dissolve sufficiently to pickle the lemons properly.
PICKLED LEMONS
Makes one 250 ml/8 fl oz jar
2 organic lemons, scrubbed
75 g Maldon salt flakes
Juice of 2 lemons
Quarter the lemons and then cut each quarter in half so that you have eight pieces. Layer them up with the salt in a 250 ml glass jar and pour in the lemon juice. Cover tightly with a plastic or plastic-coated lid and leave to mature for a minimum of 7 days at room temperature, giving them a good shake every day to redistribute the salt.
To use, rinse the lemon pieces well, scrape off and discard the pulp, and dice the skin.