Citrus season is in full swing, and if your kitchen is anything like the Food52 Test Kitchen, you are flush with spent lemons, limes, and oranges. While these zesty carcasses are great for composting, I wanted to share my favorite way to make the absolute most of these sweet and sour fruits. It only requires one other ingredient, zero cooking, and the resulting condiment tastes good on literally everything. It’s called oleo saccharum, which in Latin means “sugary oil.” Using only sugar (hence the name) and citrus peels, you can create a syrup that is essentially a concentrated version of the flavorful oils you might see a bartender express over a drink by twisting a bit of lemon peel over your glass. Folks use it in cocktails and mocktails, but it's also amazing spooned over ice cream or drizzled on cheese and crackers.
To make it: Peel your leftover citrus, removing as much white pith off as possible. You can do this with a super sharp peeler or by carefully slicing along the peel. Combine the peels with an equal amount of granulated sugar by weight. With your hands, gently massage the sugar into the fruit skins until they begin to release their oils and smell fragrant.
Transfer everything to an airtight container and let sit for two to three hours or, ideally, a full 24. After marinating, the peels will have candied, becoming treacly, and will have dispensed most of their oil. This is the oleo saccharum. Once strained, you’re going to have a syrup that gives far more than just citrus essence. It has layers of aromatic complexity that can vary depending on what fruit you make it out of. An oleo saccharum made of only lime is going to be bright and sharp, while one made with orange will be a bit sweeter.
The oil and peels can be stored separately in airtight containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks or in the freezer for up to a year.
The candied peels can be chopped up and used in tons of desserts from mince pie to Ginger-Citrus cookies. But my favorite application is a savory one: slicing them thin and tossing with some Castelvetrano olives and a bit of the citrus syrup.
In terms of the oleo saccharum itself, I urge you to get creative. It is incredible when drizzled or folded into desserts. I’m thinking a whip cream perfumed with lemon or the perfect glaze for an olive oil cake. But you could also use it in things like marinades for pork or salad dressing.
Perhaps my favorite use for it is in a Salt and Pepper Limade. I took a bit of inspiration from shikanji, a spiced lemon drink from northern India, to create a drink that really compliments the aromatic syrup. Here’s the recipe:
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons oleo saccharum
- Club soda
- In a mixing glass, stir together lime juice, salt, pepper, and oleo saccharum.
- Divide equally into two glasses filled with crushed ice. Top with club soda to taste and finish with a few cracks of black pepper.
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