Whole candied citron

Citron trees grow in Greece, on Sicily, on Corsica and in Suriname, among other places. Most candied citron nowadays comes from Puerto Rico. Our candied citron comes from Italy.

Candied citron is the sugared peel of the fruit of the citron tree, Citrus medica. The citron is a citrus fruit, also known as cedar apple, cedar lemon or musk lemon. The fruit consists largely of peel and looks somewhat like a lemon or an orange. The citron is picked as a fruit. The citron is then first brined for a month, rinsed and afterwards boiled in sugar syrup. The citron is then boiled with plenty of sugar to candy it.

Candied citron is usually sold chopped into pieces, but sometimes also as half a peel. The colour is translucent yellowish or greenish. Sometimes, however, the candied citron is dyed in brighter shades of green, yellow or red. Good candied citron is soft and tastes somewhat of orange, but it is less bitter than orange peel.