Fancy A Nice Calamansi?
For three years I’ve had a little Calamondin citrus tree growing in a pot in my backyard. This year was the first that it bore any fruit and was the first time I had an opportunity to taste it. Here is what I can report: The flesh was quite tart while the skin was on the sweeter side. Eaten whole, they provided a sweet-sour burst of flavor that made me pucker something fierce. The novelty of that wore off quickly so I began pondering other ways to put them to use…
I decided to take one from the hipster playbook and make a shrub. A Calamansi & Lemon Verbena Shrub to be precise. The tangarine-meets-lime tartness of the fruit tempered with generous amounts of honey, balanced with the subtle perfume of lemon verbena, and then tarted up again with the addition of a mild vinegar makes this a perfect summer shrub to enjoy splashed into sparkling water or in a refreshing cocktail concoction (I’m thinking something with mezcal but those who know me well know I’m pretty much always thinking about something with mezcal).
The ingredients for the shrub–minus the vinegar–are pictured below.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Calamansi, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about its myriad aliases “Calamondin is called by many names, including: calamonding, calamondin orange, calamansi, calamandarin, golden lime, kalamunding, kalamansi, Philippine lime, Panama orange, Chinese orange, musk orange and acid orange.”
While not commonly grown in the U.S outside of Florida (again, according to Wikipedia), it is widely grown in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia where it is used to flavor food and drinks. A squeeze or two on fresh fish is said to effectively mask the fishy smell, which is pretty bonus in my book.
I couldn’t find any information on the health benefits and/or medicinal uses of Calamondin, specifically (although there’s plenty about citrus in general), in my usual resources (The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia or Encyclopedia of Healing Foods) but the handful of mentions I found on the interwebs say Calamondin can be helpful in relieving constipation, clearing up respiratory issues and allergies, reducing inflammation, and even alleviating the itch of insect bites. For now I’m content to use it in shrubs but may see fit to branch out to experiment with other uses when next year’s crop is ready to be picked.
Also worth noting is that since the rinds are high in essential oil content, muddling them releases an aromatherapeutic burst of citrus-y goodness that will lift you out of any foul mood you might be experiencing. And let’s be honest, this election cycle seems to inspire foul moods so just keep muddling until, oh, say, 2020. Just muddle and breathe, muddle and breathe. Then experiment with cocktails. And, for the love of all that is citrus, send me the recipe. Please.