One of the zestier episodes during my zip across Sicily’s Le Vie della Zagara was a visit to the seaside town of Alì Terme in the province of Messina. Here and along the Valle del Nisi, aside perhaps from the tourist trade, the locally grown Limone Interdonato is the main draw – whether on its own with a skin so sweet you can eat it raw or transformed into one of many refreshing delicacies at the local bar/pasticceria/gelateria/bomboniere.
The “Interdonato” lemon is named after Colonel Giovanni Interdonato, who fought alongside Garibaldi in the Campaign of 1860 and then upon retirement grafted the first plants to yield his eponymous lemon. The result of his efforts is an organically grown PGI hybrid of the local adriddaro lemon and the citron: an early ripening, large, elongated, cylindrical, and thin skinned lemon with a lower level of citric acid than most lemons. So, it’s a bigger sweeter more versatile lemon. The bulk of production for the Interdonato is between September and April with smaller quantities available up to July. Today, the Consorzio IGP Limone Interdonato is presided by Dr Attilio Interdonato, a direct descendent of the colonel. Find out more at interdonatorelimone.it.
Down the road (and on the beach) from the Interdonato family farm is Pasticceria Bar Todaro Carmelo, where locally sourced lemons play a starring role in a number of handcrafted sweets. At Todaro I had a fantastic granita and an assortment of gorgeous – lemony but not terribly tart – cakes and biscuits. The humble family run business doesn’t seem to have any online presence, but generally glowing reviews on TripAdvisor suggest I’m hardly the only foodie who enjoyed a nibble there.
Please keep an eye out for more juicy tales in my Le Vie della Zagara series of posts.
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