Remember those pickled limes I had had a crack at making a couple of weeks back? Well I hadn't. I rediscovered them in a corner of the kitchen yesterday and figured it must be time for a taste test. The weeks of pickling have given them a waxy texture and a colour that is so jaundiced that they can only have reached pickled perfection. Coincidentally, this shade of chartreuse is also the colour that my mother dearest says "looks really good on you"... go figure!

So the taste test... these puppies are sour, super sour. There is no sugar in there so they are truly mouth puckeringly sour. Pursed lips aside, the flavour is really pretty good. Albeit tart, the essential limey-ness has taken on an extra depth. I could definitely imagine these in place of preserved lemons sliced in a tagine, with fish or cutting through anything slow roasted. 

I also fancy having a crack at these made into orangettes - or lime-ettes - for the ultimate sweet and sour experience. Good thing I made an absolute tonne of them as turns out they can now be mixed with mustard seed, tumeric, fenugreek, (the delightfully-named) asafoetida and other spices to make Indian-style pickled limes. Recipe here. As an avid poppadum-consumer, there are also on my hit list.

Pickled limes? Definitely worth it but, in hindsight, slightly smaller limes would probably have been better.