Moroccan preserved lemons

[Phteven]

As part of my new commitment to Moroccan cuisine I'm preserving lemons.
These guys don't taste anything like fresh lemons and there are lots of Moroccan recipes that use them.

Ingredients

• Lemons
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• filtered, boiled (then cooled) water
• salt
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
• 1/4 cup bay leaves (optional)
• Some people use cloves but I can't stand them. Ugh.

Method
Quarter lemons to within one cm of the bottom. Gently spread them without tearing them apart. Pack with salt and reshape.
In the bottom of a sterilized jar place 1 teaspoon of salt. Pack the lemons in layers adding salt and spices to each layer pressing each layer of lemons down to release some of the juices.
Cover the lemons with water, add oil to the top (the oil acts as a barrier) and seal.
Allow the lemons 30 days to ripen storing in a cool dark place. They will keep up to a year. They do not require refrigeration.

Before using rinse the lemons to remove the bitter taste and any white film that may have built up during preservation.

[luna moth]

Yums. Would like to order 2 x jars please. Ta.

[Junglemum]

I've never had much luck preserving lemons, they always seem to ferment and go off. I'll give it another shot though. Thanks.

[Phteven]

I saw Jamie Oliver doing it and he really packed the salt in.
He jammed bay leaves into the lemons too not just the layers between. Dunno how he went getting them back out for cooking though.
I think the oil is important too because it helps keep it sterile - kinda like the Burmese curries that have a centimeter of oil on the top to keep the cooties out.

[~me~]

Maggie Beer also does preserved lemons..have used hers and they really yummy. We have soooo many lemons on our tree I may even give this a go!

[Rouge]

Have you had any problems with mould? This is the only reason I haven't done it yet, I know so many people that have problems with mould no matter how they do it?