joon.yuzuin Learning to Smell · Seattle ·
ExerciseYuzu, lime and grapefruit peel, smelled blind
TL;DR: three peels, blind, and I only got the grapefruit right.
Setup, if you want to copy it:
- one yuzu from the Asian grocery, one lime, one grapefruit
- my partner zested each into a ramekin and covered them with a paper towel
- one sniff each, three words in the spreadsheet, then a guess
Yuzu and lime swapped places twice. The grapefruit gave itself away with a bitter, almost sulphur edge under the sweetness, the pith talking. Good use of a rainy Saturday. That's my two cents.
6 comments
orla.citrus
Lime and lemon fool me every single time, so yuzu wouldn't stand a chance. Did the yuzu smell sweeter than the lime to you?
joon.yuzu
TL;DR: sweeter, yes.
- lime: sharp, green, a bit like the white pith
- yuzu: rounder, mandarin with a pine needle in it
Basically the yuzu has a soft side the lime doesn't. That's my two cents.
aroha.rain
Kia ora, no yuzu round here but its lemon season off the neighbour's tree. Doing lemon, mandarin and navel orange tonight
nell.wattle
The yuzu page in the Notes describes it as grapefruit with mandarin overtones, so Joon's nose is right on the money.
dex_in_brooklyn
on the line we zest straight over the plate, by the time it hits the pass the zest has gone quiet. you're the only person i know who'd blindfold for a grapefruit
joon.yuzu
Round two tomorrow, fresh zest, cut at the last second. Dex's point: timing.