by Mary Heckrotte
Tromping about a pasture carved from jungle just south of Bocas del Toro in Panama, I spot the ugliest citrus fruits I’ve ever seen. Judy Greene, a delightful Bocatoreña, calls them limes though they are much larger and not green at all. Round and orange like oranges, these baseball-size orbs are covered with warts.
Judy’s husband, Tobe, plucks a lumpy specimen from the tree, whacks it open with his machete and hands me the two juicy halves. One sniff and my mouth waters, making me wish for the rest of the fixings for a Margarita. I squeeze one of the halves and a pale green juice dribbles down my elbow. I take a lick and yikes! My mouth turns wrong side out, my eyes cross. Tobe grabs his own mouth to cover his urge to laugh but Judy doesn’t bother to resist and her giggle is another delight this fine morning.
There are dozens of these trees growing about the hillside, pretty trees lending the crisp smell of limes to the tropical air. Judy is known in these parts for her way with plants, potting them, selling them to the new homesteaders that arrive almost daily to make a home in these gorgeous islands. “Judy,” says I, “did you plant this tree here?”
“Oh, no!” says she. “Me jus’ fires him off and where him land, him come right up.”
Yeah, my kind of gardening! “So, what do you make with these limes?” I ask Judy.
“We doesn’t eat dem,” Judy says. “De cows does.”
Apparently, this pitiful-looking fruit is shunned by locals, never even getting to show its ugly warts at market. But the very idea of a luscious-smelling citrus going to waste seems a shame. Surely there is some use. And thanks to ideas from the Internet, I now believe there is.
Just exactly what sort of citrus fruit this specimen might be is still unclear. Lime? Lemon? Sour orange? I’d bet on sour orange, though it’s definitely not the smooth-skinned, fancy-named, probably-pedigreed Seville or Bergamot used for marmalades and liqueurs. Let’s just call this one a wild sour orange. And hey, it works as a perfect substitute for all the recipes from the Internet that call for sour orange juice that I’ve tried so far. It is certainly just right for marinades and salad dressings. In fact, so far, substituting wild sour orange juice for lemon or lime juice in ordinary recipes has been working just fine, too. For example, wild sour oranges yield a pie every bit as good as any made from Florida Key limes. Sour orange juice keeps fruits such as mangoes, bananas and apples from turning brown. You can add it to sauces, cookies and breads, or spritz it on your salads. Squeeze a sour orange half and rub it on meat for fish before cooking. And I even rubbed my wooden cutting board with sour orange juice and rind — it smells wonderful.
Now if you’re not lucky enough to find wild sour oranges in your tropical travels, you can substitute equal parts regular orange juice and grapefruit juice. Or you can get by with one part sweet o.j. plus one part lemon or lime. You get the idea.
One precaution, though: some citrus fruits affect the way medications are absorbed by your body. In Titusville, Florida, for example, the home of Indian River grapefruit, the local hospital bans all grapefruit juice for patients. This wild sour orange may have the same effect. You might want to ask you doctor if you should avoid citrus juices with your particular prescription.
If you do spot trees overburdened with ugly oranges, you’ll likely have no trouble getting permission to pick all you can carry. But be careful: these pretty, leafy trees hide half-inch long, very wicked thorns. The thorns even pierce the soles of my knock-off Croc shoes! Don’t worry about what color fruit you pick, any shade from still greenish to bright orange is quite fine — after all, you can’t get more sour than sourest. But do try to pick the fruits that feel especially heavy for their size as they will be the ones that have the most juice inside. Being uncultivated, these oranges have more seeds than you’re probably used to. But they’ll strain out easily enough once you’ve squeezed the juice. Just use any juicer or squeeze the oranges by hand.
My friend Joellen Jeffers, a lady always open to experimenting with local produce, thought she could make lemonade from these wild sour oranges. Unable to sweeten the juice enough for her liking, she set her jar of juice aside on the cabinet and forgot about it while she was away from home for a couple of weeks. Oops! But to her delight, in her absence the juice had fermented. She poured a bit over ice cubes and sipped. Voila! She dubbed her delicious product “Hard Lemonade” and brought jugs of them to the next potluck. With happy grins all around, Joellen took home only empty jugs. And thankfully, she shared her recipe. Though I can’t really tell there is any “alcohol” effect, the taste is most refreshing at cocktail time and Hard Lemonade is now a favorite on Camryka.
In Mexico, says one website, folks cut sour oranges in half and coat them with salt and a hot chili pepper paste. (Appreciation of this concoction may require a genetic predisposition which some of us surely lack.) From a suggestion made by the natives of the Yucatan area, however, we learn that sour oranges substitute quite nicely for vinegar — and these wild ones do the job well.
Squeeze a little sour orange juice into your next rum and cola or a vodka and tonic — don’t forget to rub the rim of your glass with a cut piece, too. And no doubt, if you take a sack of wild sour oranges, a shaker of salt, and a bottle of tequila, you’ll be welcome at any Happy Hour!
Joellen’s Hard Lemonade
2 1/2 Cups water
1 1/4 Cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated sour orange peel
1 1/4 Cups sour orange juice
Put water and sugar into a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool 20 minutes. Add peel and juice. Pour into a jar or bottle and cover loosely. Let sit at room temperature for 2 weeks (or so) and then serve over ice cubes. Be sure you don’t put a tight lid on the container as fermentation may cause the container to break.
Homemade Cuban Mojo Sauce
3 large heads of garlic, peeled, cloves crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 Cups sour orange juice
1 Cup minced onion
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
3 Tablespoons minced parsley
1 Cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients except olive oil well, preferably in a blender. Set aside at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring olive oil to about 280°F (very hot!). Remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the garlic and juice mixture. Be very cautious as the oil may fizzle and splatter. Return the saucepan to medium heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Taste and add more salt or pepper if desired. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator and shake well before using. Good on almost any chicken, lamb, pork, beef, fish or seafood.
Wild Sour Orange Marinade
1 1/2 Cups sour orange juice
1/2 Cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 bay leaves, crushed
3 Tablespoons minced cilantro
Mix all ingredients in a plastic Zip-loc Bag. Add pork, beef or chicken and marinate for one or two hours. Meat can then be grilled or broiled.
Wild Orange Marinade For Fish And Seafood
1/4 Cup sour orange juice
1 teaspoon grated sour orange peel
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon crushed tarragon
Salt to taste
Ground white pepper to taste
Combine all and pour over fish or seafood. Marinate for 30 minutes. Grill or broil.
Wild Orange and Honey Fruit Salad Dressing
1 egg slightly beaten
1/2 Cup sour orange juice
1/2 Cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 Cup sour cream
Put all except sour cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Put into a covered container and chill before serving over fruit salad.
Sour Orange French Dressing
1/4 Cup sour orange juice
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 Tablespoon grated onion
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Cup olive oil
In a blender, mix all except olive oil. With the blender running, very slowly dribble in the oil. Store in a covered jar. Serve with green salads.
Sour Orange Chimichurri
2 Cups parsley, stemmed, minced
10 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 Cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons sour orange juice
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients. Put in a covered glass jar and keep refrigerated. Can be used right away but is best after 2 days. Will keep several weeks. Great on steaks and other meats.
Tandoori Marinade
1/2 Cup coconut milk
4 Tablespoons sour orange juice
2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon freshly grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
Mix all ingredients until smooth. Marinate chicken, pork, or beef for 1 hour then grill, stir-fry, or broil. Extra marinade can be used to baste meat as it cooks.
Sour Orange Seviche
1 pound cleaned white fish fillets, soaked in salt water for 10 minutes
1 Cup sour orange juice
1 onion, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 hot pepper, seeds removed and minced
2 Tablespoons minced parsley,
2 Tablespoons minced cilantro
Remove fish from salt water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut fish into bite-sized pieces and place on a platter. Cover with sliced onions. In a small bowl, mix remaining ingredients and pour over fish. Place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
Sour Orange Pie
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 Cup sugar
4 Tablespoons sour orange juice
1 carton Cool Whip (or prepared whipped topping mix)
1 graham cracker crust
Mix cream cheese, sugar, juice, and 6 ounces of Cool Whip. Spread into graham cracker crust. Put remaining Cool Whip on top of pie. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.
Sour Orange Bread
1 Cup sugar
2 Tablespoons sour orange juice
6 Tablespoons milk
2 eggs
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sour orange peel, grated
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup sour orange juice
In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange peel. In a large bowl, combine sugar, 2 Tablespoons juice, milk, eggs, and butter. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Pour batter into a greased 9” x 5” loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly in pan on a rack. Remove from pan. Put bread on a piece of foil.
In a small bowl, make a glaze of 1/2 Cup sugar and 1/4 Cup juice. Prick bread over the top with a small skewer then pour glaze over all. Let cool completely then slice to serve. Good with cream cheese.
