Bitter lemon peel taste

Yesterday I was infusing garlic olive oil with lemon slices for a creamy pasta sauce. I have done this in the past - I usually cut thin lemon slices and toss them into hot oil until they brown a bit. This time, though, it made the entire dish taste really, really bitter. It tasted a bit like the lemon peel itself, but it was very strong and infused the whole dish. I have never had this problem before. Any ideas on what the issue would be? (If it makes a difference, this was a spontaneous dinner and I grabbed a lemon from the corner store, so it probably wasn't great quality. I did rinse it, but briefly. The other things in the sauce were onions, mushrooms, creme fraiche, and oregano).

LucyS
  • Posted by: LucyS
  • November 10, 2012
  • 15663 views
  • 1 Comment

1 Comment

Voted the Best Reply!

bejugo
bejugo November 10, 2012
I suspect it was the pith. Maybe your lemon had more than average. Maybe it spent too long in the oil. If you're not sure of the quality of your lemon use a veggie peeler to remove strips of the zest, w/o much if any of the pith. Then you can juice the lemon and add the juice to taste.
 
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