"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ...
Hi,

my lemon tree (saw a very interesting bit on Gardeners World last night
about citrus) which appears to be a one year old cutting is now going
quietly berserk.

So much so that I have had to remove one of the large leaves to allow the
new shoots to leap skywards.

This waxy leaf, if crushed, gives off an intense lemony smell.

Which finally brings me to the point :-)

If you can use e.g. Kaffir Lime leaves in cooking, is there any reason why
you cannot use lemon leaves to impart flavour to a dish instead of the zest
of the lemon?

Just that I've never seen them sold in the shops or mentioned in recipes.

Perhaps most places with lemon trees also have abundant lemon fruit so the
leaves are not needed.

Alternatively there may be nasty things in the leaves which can harm you.

However in this climate with a tree not producing fruit yet, a handful of
leaves might make a useful addition to the herb collection.

Stewed apples are particularly nice with lemon zest - perhaps a lemon leaf
instead?

The leaves are fine, and give an interesting flavour not really the
same as lemon zest. Best to pick a leaf at a time as you need it,
rather than store dried ones, I think. I lost my two-footer owing to
absence of mind just before moving house, but for anybody less idiotic
they're easy to grow from a pip and keep going on a southerly
windowsill. They exhaust the soil in the pot, but don't at all mind
having it changed every year or two: John Innes is best, and I'd soak
all morning before changing.

Mike.