Cedro o Limone? Insalata di Simone — my Sicilian lemon salad — came immediately to mind when I spotted these extraordinary lemons at the Alphington Melbourne Farmers’ Market.
Was I excited? Absolutely.
At the Sennsational Berries stall, I found a small basket of mature, thick-skinned lemons—the kind you rarely see unless you’re in Sicily or have an old tree in your garden. For a moment I wondered whether they were cedri (citron), but I was assured they were lemons. One taste confirmed it: fragrant, juicy, and perfect for the simple salad my father used to make in Ragusa before he moved to Trieste.
I peeled the lemon, cut away the pith, and squeezed out just enough juice to keep the flavour balanced but not overly sharp—this salad should be refreshing, not acidic.
Fresh garlic is essential. I still had some cloves from the previous week’s market visit, but this time I also bought tender garlic shoots. I sliced them finely and added fresh mint, a little parsley, and a handful of oregano picked from my balcony plant—originally taken from my father’s garden in Adelaide. He died years ago, and using his oregano still feels like a small act of keeping him close.
The last time I bought garlic shoots was earlier this year when I was in the Maremma, Tuscany. Earlier this year in the Maremma, in our Airbnb in Castiglione della Pescaia, I cooked them with zucchini and zucchini flowers to make a dressing for pici, the local pasta. Simple ingredients, unforgettable flavours.
Below, the pasta dish I cooked with the produce I purchased in Tuscany:
But back to the lemon salad in Melbourne.
To finish, all it needs is good extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt—the salt draws out the natural sweetness of the lemon. It’s a perfect summer dish. Think of it alongside seafood (BBQ fish is wonderful) or served with a simple roast chicken, as I did when I took the salad to a friend’s home.
I shared this recipe with the stallholders at the market, and they were just as excited as I was.
A simple lemon, but what a story it carries.
I have written about lemon salad before. That post also explains what is a cedro and has a photo of a cedro from a Sicilian market.
LEMON and CEDRO – SICILIAN LEMON SALAD
I shared my recipe with the stall owners. They were excited too.
