When life gives you (yuzu) lemons

On a hot Mumbai afternoon, yuzu lemon ice cream melts in your mouth like a glob of butter on warm toast. It's light and fragrant, melts swiftly and leaves behind a refreshing trail on your palate. Look closely at menus of various restaurants in the city, and you will see the word 'yuzu' pop up repeatedly.

The wrinkly-plump yuzu is a kind of lemon. Of Japanese origin, it's a cross between lemons, mandarins and grapefruit and is loved mainly for its sweet-sour nature. At the Lower Parel and Kala Ghoda-based pâtisserie La Folie, yuzu juice is used to flavour everything from eclair cream and mousse to tarts and more. "The nature of this lemon is such that it will work with whatever you add it too. The treatment is just like that of lemons, but the flavour is more pronounced," says pâtissier Sanjana Patel.

Patel, who imports yuzu lemon juice instead of the real fruit (due to import restrictions), feels that the flavour works because it is subtle and seasoned with familiarity. Considering we have over 20 varieties of nimbus available, a lemon tang is something most Indians are comfortable with.

Ice cream giant Häagen-Dazs has also joined the yuzu bandwagon with its potent Yuzu Citrus, recently introduced as a part of its summer menu. Here, the neon yellow lemon lends itself to a full-bodied milky ice cream. Milk and lemon are not recommended together but Häagen-Dazs busts the theory. "It is just a myth that citrus doesn't go well with ice creams. If balanced rightly, like with sweet Brazilian orange juice in our case, a well-balanced ice cream can be created," says their spokesperson.

Patel adds, "Yuzu on its own can be too sweet, Indian lemons are far more tart and adding those to yuzu juice can create a more pronounced flavour." Yuzu flavoured desserts can also be found at Palladium Hotel's famed Japanese restaurant Yuuka, where the lemon is used to make a coconut-based dessert and citrus sorbet.

Apart from desserts, yuzu is being used to flavour soups, stews and marinades. Take for instance the menu at Delhi's Guppy by Ai pop-up at Olive Mahalaxmi. "Korean and Japanese cuisine use the ingredient for its distinctive flavour, yuzu lemon works well with Mediterranean fare as well. Like seafood dishes, bisques, sauces and sometimes even black teas," says Chef Vikram Khatri from the restaurant. Khatri usually imports the lemons and gets them in various forms like frozen, fresh fruit, juice and zest form and uses it sparingly to create sides like yuzu-miso sauce, yuzu butter sauce, salad dressings among other things. "But the most versatile form of using yuzu is with the help of yuzu kosho, a Japanese spice that is a blend of yuzu zest and pepper. One dash and you have transformed your dish," he says.