Lemons and Limes

One would venture to guess nearly everyone is familiar with the lime, but do you know the difference between a Persian lime and a Key lime? Let's take a look at the history and varieties of limes, along with some new recipes including the Southern favorite Key Lime Pie.

Lime history

In the eighteenth century, Scottish naval surgeon Sir James Lind learned by his observation of long-haul sailors that citrus fruits conquered the dreaded scurvy (lack of Vitamin C) which had devasted the ranks of the British navy more than any enemy. Between 1795 and 1815, some 1.6 million gallons of lime juice drastically reduced the mortality rate of seamen. Along with their daily ration of rum, British sailors were required to consume a daily ration of lime juice; hence British seamen became known as limeys. Since Britain was often at war with Mediterranean countries who exported lemons, limes imported cheaply from the English colony of Jamaica were substituted as the citrus of choice.

Key Lime (also known as Mexican Lime and West Indies Lime)
Cultivated for thousands of years in the Indo-Malayan region, this variety has long been treasured for its fruit and decorative foliage. The Key lime made its way to North Africa and the Near East via Arabian traders, and then carried on to Palestine and Mediterranean Europe by the Crusaders. Columbus is credited with bringing the Key lime to Hispaniola (now known as Haiti), where it was carried on by Spanish settlers to Florida. It flourished in South Florida, particularly the Florida Keys, hence the current common name of Key lime. Due to hurricane-depleted soils, locals switched from pineapple commercial crops to limes in 1906, and business boomed until a hurricane once again reared and wiped out the lime groves, never to be restored. Today, most Key limes come from Mexico.