The Fruit Explorer Catches Yuzu Fever, Part 2 of 2

[Continued from Part 1]

Seekers of beauty have demanded yuzu products, including the following.

• Yuzu shower gel
• Yuzu hand and body lotion
• Yuzu perfume
• Yuzu cologne for men
• Bamboo yuzu scentsy bar
• Yuzu lip balm
• LuLuLun yuzu face mask
• Yuzu and green tea bath salts
• Green tea yuzu spray.  "There's an uplifting, refreshing beauty and elemental purity that the Yuzu fruit can bring to the senses, whether you experience it in tea, cuisine or even for therapeutic purposes."—Elizabeth Arden. This product has been on the market since March 2014.
• Yuzu aroma shampoo
• Yuzu mimosa sea algae wash

The last picture provides scientific proof of the beautifying effects of yuzu

                                 

If you enjoyed candied citron peel (14 Mar 2015), then you can use this recipe to candy yuzu peel.

   

   

Yuzu inevitably has made its way into alcoholic beverages. To make a yuzu whiskey sour, you can follow this recipe or watch this video. You can make the yuzu cocktail shown in the first picture below by using this recipe. The next drinks shown are a kumquat yuzu sidecar cocktail and a yuzu margarita, which are followed by a yuzu sake. Other commercial yuzu beverages follow.

                        

Yuzu has not yet inspired much western art.

   

There is no verdict since I didn't eat a yuzu, and, in fact, the near-universal opinion is that nobody should eat one raw since it is prohibitively sour. A counter-opinion is given by one deviant Internet expert who squeezes a yuzu directly into his mouth and raves about the taste starting at 7:23 of this video. Beware, however, since starting at 11:32 of the video this expert squirts himself in the eye (twice). This is reminiscent of what happened to the Fruit Explorer in the e-mail of 25 Aug 2015 when he tried to squeeze a horned melon into his mouth. 

Yuzu can be grown in Japan since it is very cold hardy and can withstand temperatures down to 15 degrees F (some say lower), and yuzu is woven throughout Japanese culture. An ornamental yuzu is grown in Japan for its flowers. Yuzu is the name of a music group in Japan.  Yuzu is the name of a popular cartoon character (see picture). A Toyota is yuzu yellow (see below). Also, in Japan several sliced yuzus are dropped into a hot bath, perhaps after being contained in a cheesecloth wrapper, and they suffuse the room with a relaxing scent. This yuzu bath is traditionally taken around the time of the winter solstice. Folk wisdom has it that not only does the yuzu bath relax you, but it is said to protect against colds and other winter illnesses. For a couple of entertaining yuzu bath videos, go here or here.

      

   

Fresh yuzu cannot be imported into the U.S. because of the fear of disease. Due to the demand for this fruit by avant-garde chefs, producers in California started growing it about twenty years ago. Demand so outstripped supply that ten years ago prices were in the stratospheric range of $8 to $20 per pound. With increased acreage having come into production, fresh yuzu can now be had for the still high price of $4 per pound when purchased in ten pound quantities.These high prices encourage smuggling, and wholesalers tend to be secretive about their sources. This paragraph is based on an article in the New York Times, except for the one sentence with a citation,.

If you are interested in growing a citrus tree yourself, you can inspect the offerings from a nursery. Among the citrus plants for sale are a yuzu grafted onto a trifoliate orange rootstock for $32 and a kaffir lime for $20. There is a care guide to ensure success and a range map to show where the various citrus species grow. None flourish in Boston.

   

Plant Characteristics
Pest Resistance	Very Good
Disease Resistance	Excellent
Drought Tolerance	Very Good
Heat Tolerance	Excellent
Humidity Tolerance	Excellent
Sun Tolerance	Excellent
Wet Soil Tolerance	Poor
Shade Tolerance	Poor
No Spray	Very Good
Salt Tolerance	Fair
Fresh for Kids	Good
Deer Resistance	Fair
Thorns	Yes
Plant Type	Tree
Soil Type	Well Drained
Edible Type	Fruit
Self Fertile	Yes
This information is accurate to the best of our knowledge, comments/opinions are alw

I continue to be surprised at how humans have managed to get good use out of sour fruits that at first blush would seem very unpromising--yuzu, citron (14 Mar 2015), kaffir lime (21 Mar 2015), sour orange (17 Jul 2014), lemon, and lime. I guess this dates back to an era when humans were much shorter on resources and struggled to make the best of what they had.

Next time you are in Southampton, you might want to drop by the Yuzu Lounge Bar. 

Your party tip is to hold a Japan night to introduce your guests to Japanese culture. Decorate the party room with satsuma tangerine bonsai trees (25 Jan 2015), with ornamental yuzu trees, and with origami figures. Place basins of warm water that contain sliced yuzu around the room to fill it with scent. Have your guests remove their shoes and issue each guest a kimono. (Be aware that kimono design varies with the season and that married and single women wear different kimonos. Don't embarrass yourself.) In the background, play Japanese music, which is based on the intervals of human breathing rather than on the mathematical timing of western music. Pick wildflowers of the season and create flower arrangements that display harmony, color use, rhythm, and elegantly simple design, which are the principles of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. Hide the alcohol. Now you have created a Japanese atmosphere of quiet attention to detail. (There is no need to conduct a demonstration of judo, sumo wrestling, or the arts of the geisha.) As you serve your guests yuzu tea, cultivate the art of civilized conversation. Use the sharing of candied yuzu peel to give your guests a glimpse of the Japanese ideal of group harmony as opposed to individualistic striving. In between eating segments of sumo mandarin tangerine (20 Feb 2015), teach your guests the art of bowing so they can submerge their egos in an environment of politeness and respect. Throughout the evening show your guests the joys of complexity derived from simplicity. As your guests leave, they will be imbued with the deep contentment that comes from experiencing the subtle but insistent pulse of Japanese culture.

Rick

P.S. There are lots of obscure citrus fruits that, like yuzu, you are unlikely to find in a store, so I will not report on them. If you wish, you can watch a video that rambles through a variety of these.