Yuzu = citrus junos

"Yuzu can be used just like limes or lemons, though they have a more zesty, uplifting fragrance – think lemon sherbet with a touch of mandarin and grapefruit." James Wong - The Guardian

I definitely got the grapefruit bit in my sorbet but it wasn't quite grapefruit and it was definitely wow. And here are a couple more attempts at describing it.

"It's as much a fragrance as a taste," Leigh Hudson

"The juice is sharp but fragrant – closest to the blossom notes of the bergamot oranges used in Earl Grey tea". Japan Centre

In Japan it is definitely the most popular citrus fruit and:

"In Japan and Korea they are used in everything from liqueurs and marmalades to high-end perfumery." ...

"I love using them in cocktails instead of limes (yuzu sours are a thing of true beauty)"

James Wong

So why can't we get them here? Well obviously you can because my sorbet was a yuzu sorbet, though it may only have been made from yuzu juice. In England you can apparently get it in supermarkets, but not here. I did find one supplier here in Melbourne - Chef's Armoury, where a 200ml bottle will set you back $17.95. I also looked to see if you can grow your own and found this statement from Nurseries Online:

"At present the Yuzu Tree is not readily available in Australia, however some wholesale growers are in the process of importing material to commence production. The first trees should hit the market in around 3 – 4 years (2018)."

I thought I did find one supplier but when I looked more closely I saw that they are 'in production'. So maybe next year even Bunnings will have them. Maybe it will be the one kind of citrus tree I can grow. James Wong who supplied a couple of the quotes on this page is a gardening writer for the Guardian in the UK and cannot understand why they aren't around either, because apparently they are very hardy - will grow even where there is frost - so even in England.

So what is it and where does it come from? As in my researches on chiboust, I actually found out a couple of things I did not know about citrus in general. They originate in Asia - probably China. Well that's what they used to think. Now, some think Australia, New Guinea, Australasia and others think Malaysia. Asia anyway, though it had spread to Europe as early as Roman times - well that might have been the furthest bits of the Roman Empire. Anyway it has a long and separate history in Europe, and unlike our usual thing about all the stuff that came from America, this is one thing that the Conquistadors took to America.

Botanically speaking it is called Citrus Junus and is a naturally occurring hybrid of Citrus Reticulata and Citrus Ichangensis which is a subspecies of Citrus Papeda. It is currently believed (things change) that all citrus are descended from four main genus - Medica, Maxima, Reticulata and Micrantha - or in English - Citron, Pomelo, Mandarin and Papeda. Which explains why it was described to me by the waitress (who asked the chef for me) that it was a cross between a mandarin and a lime - for the species papeda includes the kaffir lime. Mind you I also saw somewhere that it was a cross between Medica and Micrantha, so I got a bit confused. I'm going with Reticulata and Ichangensis. Though you would think that Pomelo (Maxima) would be in there somewhere. But frankly it's all a bit beyond me. It's certainly knobbly (like the kaffir lime), tart and has lots of big seeds anyway. And James Wong seems to agree with the 'official version',

"The yuzu is an uber-fragrant citrus from Japan. Its fruity zest and bracingly tart juice is a result of its mixed parentage – a natural cross between a mandarin orange and the wild Ichang lemon" James Wong - The Guardian

Whatever its origins it seems to have been more or less unknown back in the 60s to 80s. Like chiboust, the Larousse Gastronomique doesn't mention it. Neither, and more surprisingly, does Charmaine Solomon in her massive tome on Asian food. Jane Grigson sort of mentions it but I think confuses it with the Citron and says, "apart from its peel it is useless" Which really doesn't seem to be the case. But it seems that celebrity chefs have discovered it and you can find recipes here and there on the net. I found a few on my bookshelves. Nigel Slater has two in his Kitchen Diaries III - one in a Japanese style broth and the other in a chicken dish. Luke Nguyen, in his book on France has a dressing consisting of 2 tbs yuzu juice, 1 tbs light soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and 1 tbs grapeseed oil, which is drizzled over seared scallops on a pumpkin purée. Yotam Ottolenghi has a few. Just search the net if you are interested.

Something to look forward to maybe. And there's a restaurant called Yuzu in Melbourne already, so maybe sooner than you think.

POSTSCRIPT: I forgot to say that because of the large seeds they really only use the juice and the rind (which can be dried and powdered). And everyone seems to say that if you can't get yuzu use lime instead.