Joe Ray

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June 7, 2007 - ASAP / Associated Press

MODICA, Sicily
In southern Sicily, lemon and orange groves seem to line every road, but the idea of state-sponsored professional lemon tastings sounds rather masochistic—a puckered version of the famous National Geographic picture with the line of women in lab coats sniffing men’s underarms.

Besides, a lemon’s a lemon, right?

Not so, says Dr. Giuseppe Cicero, who works for the Sicilian government as a sensorial analyst and food-quality controller.

“We’re trying to get people to think of the importance of what they put in their mouths,” he said.

It may seem a reach to discuss the finer points of lemons A, B and C, but that’s the heart of Sicily’s product-based push to keep its distinct cuisine in the limelight.
The food guide “Sicilia. Un Isola Da Gustare,” put out by the island’s agriculture and forestry council, puts twenty different kinds of the island’s citrus fruits on the first page. (Quick: how many different varieties of oranges growing in America can you name?)

Chefs here also tend to be some of the biggest supporters of Cicero’s project. Those who are now making waves are extremely product-focused, often stocking more than one variety of Sicilian specialties like almonds, artichokes and oranges, depending on the specific flavor or presentation they want.

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SHUDDER TO THINK

One of Cicero’s recent lemon tastings directly followed a tasting of renowned Modican chocolate—and the two couldn’t have elicited more different reactions from his panel. After the chocolate was cleared away, Cicero wheeled several hospital carts’ worth of lemons on numbered plastic plates out to his tasters.

While they clearly enjoyed picking out the nuances in different kinds of chocolate, their bodies were definitely at odds with plates of straight lemon.

Far from the physical restraint normally seen at wine tastings, here the tasters recoiled, puckered, shuddered, occasionally giggled, and generally tended to look like they were having way less fun than they did with the chocolate.

Clearly, they were pushing themselves for the good of humanity. But what good?

“We’re looking for both common characteristics and what differentiates them,” said Cicero. “Tomatoes and carrots come from the earth and they speak of the earth. They have a primal link to their territory. We want to transfer these sensations to the people who eat them.”

In wine terms, he sounded like a sommelier who was trying to make a bottle sound better than it was, but concentrating on a pure fruit or vegetable can elicit curious reactions.

Perhaps it helps to have a Sicilian tongue, but here, some tasters—a mix of food professionals with both trained and untrained palates—found that the fruit can trigger feelings and memories, and each type of lemon could elicit a different response.

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IF THE LEMON AIN’T BROKE ...

Like his tasters, I had trouble pulling a plate full of lemons toward me, but then a funny thing happened.

On a good day, when I poke my nose in a glass of wine, I can pick out a few key elements; something really good will actually give me goose bumps or a flicker of emotion. Here, the smell of lemons, of all things, actually triggered memories and feelings, and each type of lemon brought something different.

I tasted them, puckering and shuddering like everyone else in the room, but, without really thinking about it, how each lemon should be used in cooking came to me, no question—clear as day. One was for a vinaigrette, another, with a deeper flavor, for broiled scallops, the third was made to go in seltzer water or to flavor desserts, and number four was perfect to go on top of squid.

If only wine pairings came to me this easily.

I tell Cicero about my reactions and he blames man.

“Winemaking has a huge amount of human intervention and these (lemons and other fruits and vegetables) have none. It’s a direct link to the elements of the tree and around it.”

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THE ZEST OF LIFE

Though they tend to be a little more excited to be part of a chocolate tasting panel, Cicero’s tasters understand the long-term value of tasting lemons.

For some, it’s clear that they grew up in a culture where the lemon is so important that people both taste the difference in the varieties and demand local produce. For many Sicilians, having only one type of lemon would be the equivalent of having only one variety of apple at the market all year long.

“Different varieties of lemons have different physicochemical characteristics,” said taster Donatella Denaro. “This variety can come largely from the place where they are cultivated.”

“The consumer wants a more ample variety of produce,” added Gianna Bozzali, a local food journalist on Cicero’s panel. “Changes in terrain, sun exposure, water and cultivation techniques mean a lemon produced in one zone in Sicily will be very different from one produced in a faraway zone. A lemon is an expression of the territory where it’s from.”

Sensorial analyst Cicero couldn’t agree more. “We want them to say, ‘This comes from my land.’”

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asap contributor Joe Ray is a food and travel writer based in Europe. He can be reached via his Web site, http://www.joe-ray.com.