Mumbai food: Chefs try out different ways to add lemon to platters

Abbott transfers the flavour and aroma of the orange zest by flaming it over the Martinez cocktail. Pic/Sameer Markande

The Indian palate is known to lean towards its love for the khatta. And, nothing is easier than a squeeze of lime to add zest to your food and, sometimes, your drink. It's common for chefs and bartenders to hear repeated requests for that one extra wedge of lime. It's perhaps why, some are now making a concerted effort to think beyond the lime to create the much-in-demand acidic element.

Also, chefs point out, lime and lemon are not so equal. There's a difference between their scent and flavours, size, pulp, nutritional value and most importantly, availability. So, when it comes to looking beyond the lime, one needs to be equal parts creative and resourceful. From orange and lemon vinaigrette to the more complex citrus flavours of the Mediterranean, and sometimes even using other parts of the lime tree, there are some innovative ideas doing the rounds of Mumbai's joints.

Zac Abbott, Bartender, Masala Bar
SWITCH WITH: Japanese yuzu

This Australian mixologist carries with him over a decade of experience and has been in Mumbai since June, last year. Abbott says a large part of his journey has been to find and incorporate more complex and unusual flavours in the blends he puts together. A key observation has been how the desi whiskey sour never matches its foreign counterpart, because originally it is supposed to be made with lemon. "A whiskey sour made with lemon is not only traditional, but in my opinion, far superior to the one made with lime. Lime cuts through the drink, while lemon adds flavour. Lemon juice allows the whiskey to travel more delicately to the palate. But here, a majority of bars don't stock lemons in their inventory," Abbott says.

He prefers the flavours of the Japanese yuzu and the orangelo, which is a cross between an orange and a grapefruit from Puerto Rico. "The taste of orange can vary from sweet to sour, depending on the variety selected while grapefruit's taste can vary from slightly bitter, with a hint of tart, to sweet. Both can serve as wonderful substitutes for lime when used correctly with other elements of the drink to create a distinct, layered flavour." In terms of technique, Abbott feels pickling is a good way of bringing sour notes to a dish. "Fermenting could also be another great way to subtly alter citrus flavours. I'd say, Indians are obsessed with flavours and that's a positive as it leaves room for us to innovate," he says.

Besides the passion fruit, Patel also likes to work with lemon balm leaves, grapefruits, and gooseberries. Pic/Sameer Markande

Sanjana Patel, executive pastry chef, La Folie India
SWITCH WITH: Passion fruit

It's not just drinks and savouries, there's also a demand for desserts to retain sour notes. And, even if Sanjana Patel has to create a lemon tart or a sour macaroon, she uses a finger lime or the Japanese yuzu. "Usually, when we are talking about something citrus to make a coulis or a crumble, we can use grapefruits, oranges and lemon verberna and cider instead of lime." However, her favourite is the passionfruit. "We use it for our sauces and reductions. Passion fruit brings in more flavour nuances and it has a tropical aftertaste," she says. The chef and her team have been experimenting with it to pair it up with the Mahabaleshwar strawberry jam to enhance the tartness. "And, in savoury, we have been thinking of making a passion fruit vanilla gastrique for crab, shaved fennel and avacado tartare salad," Patel says. Balsamic vinegar mixed with wine is another sour dressing she prefers. "We also do a pomegranate and beetroot dressing. The result is citrusy, but carries an array of flavours," she says.

Until last year, her kitchen was "hooked to the Japanese yuzu". "But now, we are looking at substitutes such as finger lemon and main de Buddha, a citrus fruit grown in Assam. I hear even French chefs are importing that to use it as cold infusion for their mousses." She's also a fan of the King of Lime or the Gondhoraj Lebu of West Bengal. "I sampled it a while ago when I was in Kolkata and now whenever my colleagues go visiting, I ask them to bring back a carton. It is a great, flavourful replacement of the nimbu as we know it."

For mild citrus flavours, they work with the lemon balm leaf. Patel points out that the availability of alternate ingredients is giving way to an alternate thinking.

Dimi is known to thrash well-trodden formulae in his cocktails. Pic/datta kumbhar

Dimi Lezinska, Director of beverages for KOKO, The Good Wife & Trilogy
SWITCH WITH: AMLA

When Frenchman Dimi Lezinska, one of France's most influential bartenders, took on the role of Director of Beverages for KOKO, The Good Wife & Trilogy in Mumbai, the one thing that he found strangely fascinating was the Indian love for khatta. "Customers would invariably take a fancy to sour drinks. So, I decided to respond to this love of acidity by creating a drink using fresh amla juice because I found the level of acidity very challenging and I also liked the astringency of the juice," says Dimi, who created a drink by mixing amla with starfruit juice to a ratio of 50/50.

He says, "The idea was that if I pair something extremely sour with something moderately sour, but sweet, then the result should come close to a lemon," he says. Known to thrash well-trodden formulae and create his concoctions, Dimi found a good replacement for the lemon in Yuzu marmalade, a Japanese lemon that has a hint of tangerine, grapefruit, orange and lemon. "We have made a cocktail called Fall To Rise with rum, aperol, coconut rum, lime, and yuzu marmalade and the result is very satisfying, as the acidity and flavours of the yuzu give you a lovely pink grapefruit aroma, and since it is a marmalade, there is a hint of bitterness that just lingers elegantly." Dimi feels in the West, it's not easy to replace lemon with lime or vice versa, as people know the way drinks should taste. "People here are familiar with lime. We have to replace lemon drinks (because of the price of lemons) with lime and they are used to that."