Lime War II

(For Lime War I, see Cousin Nat's post: http://ramblingsofasouthernsocialite.blogspot.com/2008/01/pie-by-any-other-name.html).

I've made two lime pies in the last couple of weeks. The first (pictured here) was made with common, Persian limes. These are the limes you are familiar with, the ones you've seen next to the lemons on the produce aisle for years. They're about the size of a lemon, just green instead of yellow. The second pie, was a "real McCoy" (to quote Cousin Al) Key Lime Pie. I was surprised to find these limes at the local Publix. They came in a little net-style bag, about 20 to a bag. And I used around 15 of them for my pie.

The Key lime is neither original nor unique to the Florida keys. Information from about.com indicates that the Key Lime actually originated in the Indo-Malayan region, before making it's way to Palestine and Mediterranean Europe. It traveled to Spain, before some guy named Columbus brought it to Haitian soil...from there it migrated northward to Florida. And today most Keys are grown in Mexico. A "true" Key lime, then, has nothing to do with where it is grown (be it Jerusalem, Madrid, Port-au-Prince, or Key West, but rather, the type of lime that it is.) If location of production was "key," (pun intended), I guess Jerusalem might be the original. Taaank ya, Jesus!

Jesus (aka Key) Limes are reputed to be sweeter (holier) than their more tart Persian counterparts. But that's only if you allow the Jesus's to fully ripen to a yellow color. If you juice (crucify) them when greener or yellow-green, they are more tart, which probably explains why Jesus Lime and Persian Lime Pies taste the same. (By the way, that gives me an idea for the third phase of my experiment...letting the Keys get fully yellow before juicing (crucifying) them. Maybe that will sweeten (resurrect) the taste. If nothing else, it's another Key Lime Pie to devour!)

If you like the idea of using Jesus Key Limes in your pie, grab 'em (begin worshiping)! I probably will, now that I've found them in my local Publix (Cathedral). But if you can't find them, it's no heresy to choose the non-Jesus (Devil?) variety...in fact, I dare say even Jesus would approve of the Persian Lime!

And if you find the rare black lime...give that a shot, too (it's not evil). Don't expect it to look as pretty in a pie, though. Oh yeah, don't forget the meringue, and that extra lime zest on top...that's enough to sweeten (resurrect) even the most tart (sinful) of pies!