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Citrus
Citrus: A History | Pierre Laszlo
2 posts | 1 read
Walk into your local grocery store and down the produce aisle, and youll find a dazzling array of citrus, from navel oranges and clementines to grapefruit and key limesand sometimes even more exotic fare like the Japanese yuzu or the baboon lemon. Nearly 100 million tons of citrus are produced globally every year, but where did these fruits first come from? How did they find their way into the Western world? And how did they become both a culinary and cultural phenomenon? Pierre Laszlo here traces the spectacular rise and spread of citrus across the globe: from Southeast Asia in 4000 BC through North Africa and the Roman Empire to early modern Spain and Portugal, whose explorers introduced the fruits to the Americas during the 1500s. Blending scientific rigor with personal curiosity, Citrus ransacks over two millennia of world history, exploring the numerous roles that citrus has played in agriculture, horticulture, cooking, nutrition, religion, and artfrom the Jewish feast of the Tabernacles through the gardens and courts of Versailles to the canvasses of Vincent van Gogh to the orange groves of southern California and the juicing industry of today. Laszlo . . . has approached the lore of citrus fruit with the lan of a master chef (the man is French, after all), mixing history, economics, biology and chemistry to produce a book that will bring a smile to readers of every taste.Natural History Altogether charming, eccentric, erudite, and definitely worth the price.Times Higher Education Supplement Stimulating. . . . Laszlo shows that the citrus fruit is a treasure trove of chemicals that are highly useful to humankindwhich also happens to taste wonderful.Sunday Times (UK) A short but brilliant account of 6,000 years of citrus fruits that should be devoured with fervor.Financial Times Did you know there are a billion citrus trees under cultivation, or that grapefruit juice may potentiate the effects of Viagra? Citrus mines over two millennia of history to explore the spread of these fruits out of Asia, their commercialization in the United States, and enduring symbolism the world over.New Scientist
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blurb
Lindy
Citrus: A History | Pierre Laszlo
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Yuzu is a citrus fruit I saw for the first time in Japan, having previously only encountered it in products like shampoo or tasted food flavoured with it. These cut pieces went into a sachet to scent my evening bath when I was a guest at a friend‘s home in Yokohama. I slept soundly afterwards.

saresmoore Very cool! 6y
suzisteffen I keep hearing about it on cooking shows! Looks amazing. 6y
Lindy @saresmoore @suzisteffen I tried yuzu jam—it‘s like marmalade —and gushed so much that I was given a jar to take home. Lucky me. 😊 6y
suzisteffen @Lindy Well done! 6y
51 likes4 comments
blurb
Lindy
Citrus: A History | Pierre Laszlo
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Sweets made from the citrus fruit bushukan (Buddha‘s hand in English) are popular in Koyasan, a sacred mountain area in Japan. There are 117 temples in a small area. The famous graveyard, Okuno-in, holds 220,000 souls. I lodged for two nights in a temple, where they serve outstanding vegan cuisine (shojin ryori).

LeahBergen Cool! 6y
Lindy @LeahBergen I love Japan! 6y
TrishB I would love to go to Japan! On my bucket list. 6y
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saresmoore Oh, this is so neat! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Lodged in a temple! 👏 Wow! 6y
Tanisha_A Wow! To Japan, one day! 🤞 6y
batsy Gosh, that sounds wonderful. 6y
Lindy @TrishB I hope you will get here sometime. I was worried about not finding vegetarian food but it hasn‘t been difficult. 6y
Lindy @saresmoore @erzascarletbookgasm @Tanisha_A @batsy I‘m having a really nice time. 😁 6y
50 likes9 comments