When I was a little girl, I found the elderly lady living next door to my grandmother fascinating. Her name was Rose and she was the original owner of her rustic wooden cottage fully equipped with a real wood burning stove. That cottage was surrounded by countless fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and an assortment of edible flowers. Almost everything in her yard was edible. Rose was always outside fussing with her garden. She loved teaching me how to pick fresh fruit and harvest her small vegetable beds. She encouraged my grandmother to plant dozens of trees in her own yard. Growing up, we watched those trees grow. When I was 6 years, I personally grew my own watermelon from a seed. And, by the time I was 10, we could pick fresh fruit off of 3 kinds of mango trees, avocado trees, grapefruit trees, lemon trees, two mamey sapote trees and one pomelo tree. That poor pomelo was our favorite underdog. Like the longshot that wins your heart, we fought to keep that poor thing alive over the years.
My grandmother grew dozens of fruit trees, wild berry bushes and pineapples. One of the later additions was another favorite. It was a much-loved star fruit tree. We loved it’s fruit. Picked young, it’s puckery tart. If it’s allowed to ripen, it turns sugary sweet and a beautifully deep shade of orange.
When Rose died, I was still quite young. And, I struggled with the concept of death. But, my family kept her spirit alive by caring for all of those trees. As long as those trees were alive, I knew Rose was watching… from somewhere.
Not everyone has the luxury of space for a garden. But, anyone can cook. And, cooking is another great way to keep the memory of those we love alive. Rose was the only person we ever knew who made this old-fashioned thing called Old Sour. It was odd, but, it served a purpose. It kept lemon juice usable until the next season. Old timers like Rose would make dozens of bottles and let them age on the shelf. The older the better, she’d say. How funny… and perfectly ironic to remember Rose, the sweet old lady that lived next door, with her recipe for old sour.
This one’s for you Rose.
Rose’s Old Sour
1 bucket of lemons (Or, key limes)
1 Tablespoon salt
Place 1 Tablespoon of salt into a sterile pitcher. Juice the lemons into your pitcher over a strainer. When you have approximately 2 cups of lemon juice, stir well. Pour into a sterile wine bottle or vinegar bottle. Seal with a new cork. Then, let it sit for at least 48 hours or up to two weeks before using.
(We store ours in the fridge. But, Rose used to store hers in the pantry for speedy aging.)
If you have lemons to spare, make a second bottle with one small Scotch bonnet pepper. Clean the pepper carefully and cut off the stem. Drop the Scotch bonnet pepper into your bottle whole. Then, add your salted lemon juice.
Drizzle over fish before grilling, broiling or frying. Or, use as you would malt vinegar on fried fish and chips.
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