Finger limes are fast becoming the new caviar.
What on earth are finger limes? Kem Ormond investigates, chatting with Barbara Takase from Caviar Limes.
OPINION
Finger limes are all the talk in culinary circles and household kitchens because everyone wants to try them.
Have you tried them? I have to say I am one of the lucky ones and I am besotted with this incredibly special fruit.
The finger lime is native to the subtropical rainforests of southeast Queensland from Mount Tambourine to the Richmond River in northeast New South Wales.
The Bundjalung people who lived in this area of Australia called finger lime “gulalung”.
Finger limes are happy growing in virtually all tropical and subtropical climates.
They are given the name because they look like your middle index finger.
They are tapered at each end, can be green, burgundy, or yellow and are 5-12cm in length, with the bushes growing about 2m high for the dwarf variety and about 3.5m for the standard size.
The trees take 5-15 years to reach maturity and require special growing conditions and a lot of care.
They do not like hot, dry winds and need to be kept well watered with regular feeding.
When I chatted with Barbara Takase, of Caviar Limes, she said they liked to be enclosed with a hedge.
”We have planted lavender and mānuka around our dwarf finger lime trees and this protects our trees as well as encourages bees to pollinate them.”
When fully producing, a tree will provide 10-12kg during the season.
When it comes to picking them, though, it is not for the faint-hearted; the bushes have needle-like branches and I reckon it’s like playing rock, paper, scissors with a shark.
In reality, the limes have to be picked with chainmail gloves using a long pair of tongs, so it’s a challenge, but the reward is all worth it.
Finger limes fruit for a long time, from December to June.
Though it looks nothing like our regular lemons and limes, it is a citrus fruit packed with vitamins, potassium and iron.
Open up a finger lime and you will be transported to a whole new experience.
When you open up a finger lime, it is filled with hundreds of spherical pearls (which look like caviar) each bursting with a delicious, distinctive flavour.
Most of the fruit, regardless of the skin colour, contains pale green pearls, but sometimes you are lucky to find beautiful pink pearls.
It’s sort of like finding that special pearl in an oyster.
These distinctive, citrus-flavoured pearls add flavour and interest to a variety of seafood, desserts and drinks.
Serve them on top of canapes, with seafood, to decorate a cheesecake or in your favourite cocktail.
The biggest market in New Zealand is cocktails, champagne and gin and tonic.
Relatively new to the New Zealand market and with the trees taking a long time to mature, finger limes are a luxury because they are not cheap.
In some cases, you are looking at $16 for a 50g punnet consisting of three or four finger limes.
But they go a long way and will last in your fridge in a glass-sealed container for three or four weeks.
These little pearls can easily elevate some of your dishes from nice to mouth-exploding excitement.
Though finger limes are a big operation in Australia, Japan has a restriction on finger limes from Australia due to the Queensland fruit fly.
Japan has started growing its own crop, although still in the early growing stage with most being grown in hothouses.
Its growing season is the opposite of ours, so Japanese wholesalers are keen to take virtually all the fruit that can be produced – another reason they are so costly for us.
“Apart from trial shipments our company has sent there, there are no actual suppliers of fruit yet from New Zealand,” Takase said.
They are a firm favourite with chefs and restaurants in New Zealand and can be seen on the odd occasion in specialty food stores and in supermarkets.
Treat yourself when you see them.
Add them to some sushi or sashimi, put some on top of your key lime pie, pop them in a glass of champagne for your guests and elevate your salad to the next level with them.
They are the most gorgeous fruit I have tried in a long while.
Shane Jones, Cameron Bagrie, Mark de Lautour, John McOviney.