vol.8 レモンの季節

vol.8 レモンの季節

I first discovered this lemon tea more than 25 years ago. It was when I was purchasing a house in Italy. You see, when buying a home, there are various documents to sign. Both the buyer (myself) and the seller arrived — along with their entire extended families. As I had no understanding of legal matters, I needed a lawyer with me. He was there in the role of a legal representative. And that lawyer — he was drinking this lemon tea. We were on our way to the house when we stopped by a small bar. I ordered an espresso, of course. I assumed he would do the same — but to my surprise, he asked for “lemon tea.” I remember thinking, how curious. A large cup arrived, holding a generous half lemon, slit through the middle to bring out the juice. He added sugar and began pressing the lemon vigorously with a spoon. Then hot tea was poured over it — and that was how he drank it. It looked absolutely delicious, and the moment I returned home, I tried it myself. To this day, I still don’t know why he ordered it that way, or why that particular bar served it like that. It’s the only time I’ve seen lemon tea prepared like that in Italy. And from that moment on, it’s how I’ve always made my lemon tea. Lemon season begins around the end of autumn, or the start of winter, when the lemons are still green. That’s when it begins. Then, through to around April or May… You’ll find these beautiful, golden lemons, bursting with juice. As for lemon spaghetti — or lemon pasta —
I actually heard about it before ever going to Italy. When I decided I would stay there,
I thought I ought to study the language a bit, so I enrolled in a language school in Tokyo. That’s where I met a teacher — he became my Italian tutor. The lessons, though, felt more like friendly chats than formal study. One day he asked, “Have you ever heard of lemon pasta?” I said I hadn’t — and he explained it to me. Apparently, it was a recipe from his own home. I listened, went home, and gave it a try — and that’s how it all began. It’s a butter-based pasta — with lemon.
Butter-based sauces are more common in the north. Lemons, on the other hand, come from the south — places like Sorrento or Naples. And in between lies Rome. That teacher was from Rome, you see. So to me, this is Roman pasta. *You’ll find the lemon pasta recipe in the description. Question: Did the Italian you learned come in handy later on? Not at all. The Italian I studied in Japan proved to be of no use whatsoever. My teacher did his best, of course… But since he spoke a little Japanese, he was eager to use it. So the Italian never really stuck — only fragments made it into my ears. It never quite formed into full sentences. But once I arrived in Italy, and found myself immersed in a world of nothing but Italian… I began to understand, whether I liked it or not. That’s when I truly realised… Studying a language for just an hour or two a week — that alone will never make it stick. And what remained with me from those lessons in Tokyo… was the lemon pasta.

#有元葉子 #yokoarimoto #lifeinjapan
レモンの季節をご存じですか?
ちょうど今頃が、国産の黄色いレモンの出盛りです。
以前、訪ねたこともある瀬戸内の島の農園から
いつもジューシーで安全なレモンを送ってもらっています。
レモンが届いたら、いろんな食べ方をします。
サラダのドレッシングに、
ビネガーを使うところをレモンの搾り汁にしたり。
レモンとしらすのちらしずしを作ったり、
レモンケーキを作ったり、
魚介のカルパッチョに搾りかけたり。
動画でご紹介したレモンティやレモンパスタは
わが家の定番中の定番です。
果汁も果肉も皮も丸ごと使って
レモンの色、香り、酸味、苦味を存分に味わいます。

レモンパスタ

材料(2人分)
スパゲッティ (直径1.9mm) 160~180g
レモン 1個
レモンの皮 1個分 (すりおろす)
生クリーム(乳脂肪分45%と35%を好みで。合わせてもよい) 1カップ
バター 20g
パルミジャーノ・レッジャーノ 40g (すりおろす)

作り方

1. レモンは皮ごと1mm厚さの輪切りにする。鍋にレモン、バター、生クリー
ムを入れて中火にかける。
2. スパゲッティをゆで始める。
3. 1のレモンをトングやヘラで押しながら煮て、生クリームの量が半分ぐら
いになり、レモンの果肉が煮溶けて透けてきたら、レモンを取り出す。
4. ゆであがったスパゲッティを3の鍋に入れて、よくあえる。パルミジャー
ノを加えて、しっかりあえる。器に盛って、パルミジャーノ(分量外)をすり
おろし、レモンの皮をふりかける。

#YOKOARIMOTO #有元葉子 #lifeinjapan