Citrus in Cuba

[martin]

I’ve been in conversation with a customer about Cuban drinks and citrus, which led me to dig, but that only got me so far. Asking for clarification/correction on the following:

Limes
The primary citrus in Cuban drinks, obviously, is limón (green lime) which the Cubans (uniquely?) sometimes (inconsistently) spell out as limón verde—an additional source of confusion. I conjecture this habit is either some local linguistic particularity that traces back to their Spanish cultural ties (where limón is a lemon and limes were uncommon, and in the same sense that a lemon is a limón amarillo, in the unlikely situation you encounter one in Latin America) or else, maybe something to do with overripe limes going yellowish and their flavor turning?

The lime cultivar, historically, is Limón Creollo (aka Key Lime), not Tahitian/Persian/Bearss. [i.e., we should be using key limes in our Cuban drinks]

In Mexico—at least—the lima is a different cultivar of lime: a small, aromatic number with seeds. (See also: sopa de lima). I haven’t found any indication this style of lime exists in Cuba, nor that the Cubans employ the word “lima” at all in the drinks context (except Naranja de Lima, below).

Oranges
The naranja (sweet orange) seems to be present in Cuba, but uncommonly employed in mixed drinks, and mainly crops up in Cuban recipes for American drinks that call for orange juice.

I suspect the oranges that were common in Cuba during the relevant period were not quite what we’re accustomed to, today, from Florida, but I don’t know.

Grapefruit
The toronja—a genuinely Caribbean citrus hybrid—crops up pretty frequently. No notes other than the Cubans were assuredly not using the fucking Ruby Red.

Naranja Lima / Naranja de Lima
This term seems to apply to either the sour orange (not necessarily the Seville, specifically) or an orange/lime hybrid. “Medicinal citrus.” Unclear to me what is common in Cuba. Rarely used in mixed drinks, but crops up in sources like Lasa (Clover Club, Jack Rose, Suave) and Sanchez (Doctor No. 1., Hop Frogg [sic], Hop Toad)

[fernando]

Great subject, thanks @martin

[francois]

Great subject, indeed.

I’ve been in Cuba 8 or 9 times (not sure anymore) and never saw a toronja. Regular limes, yes, criollos when I was lucky to be there in season, and naranja agria (sour orange) are basically what I got access to.

The naranja agria was what they used at El Floridita instead of the toronja when we ordered a Daiquiri #3. They’d put just a couple of very small pieces of the fruit, including the rind, and there you go: intensely bitter #3.

I’ve been personally trying to make sense of citruses and citrus use history in Cuba for a long time but have to admit I’m sort of… lost? (Then again I’m sure it holds true for other countries as the citruses that reached the UK in the 1920s were undoubtedly very different too).

One person it might be interesting talking with for this is Julio Cabrera. He initially trained as an agricultural engineer and worked on a citrus plantation in his mid-twenties. It was the late 1980s and almost 30 years after the Revolution it’s very likely the citrus situation was significantly different but one assumes he knows more than we do.

[martin]

I haven’t tried reaching Julio Cabrera yet, but I did reach a real live Cuban in Cuba through a friend, who supplied the following:

Limón is always understood as lime unless, in a case like yours where they are using both, they specify. There’s not much yellow lemons in Cuba.

This reopens up the possibility that some old Cuban recipes are actually calling for limón amarillo (i.e., lemons), but I am skeptical. For one thing, they never say limón amarillo, which would be the logical thing. Moreover, if anybody was consistent about limón vs. limón verde, that would imply the Floridita’s Daiquiri Num. 2 would be made with lemon juice, Lasa’s Gin Ricky and Mojo Criollo would be made with lemon juice, and other madness. I still suspect it’s just bad editing and it’s limes all the way down.

[sweet] Oranges are the same like in the U.S. but you guys have other kinds we do not have. We have naranja, naranja lima and we have sour oranges which you use to seasoning lechon asado. Naranja Lima is smaller than regular oranges.

Doesn’t sound like naranja de lima is a sour orange, just some smaller sweet orange.

Cuban toronja [grapefruit] are the same. Most of what we have are white/yellowish flesh.

Sounds right to me.

[raulrufin]

As a Cuban I’ll simply say that Cuba doesn’t have much and hasn’t had much for a long time now. So that’s why there isn’t much clarity with these things from an editorial perspective. Maybe someone came across these things later on and outside of Cuba.

My grandmother definitely calls both lime and lemon: limon. When I would ask for clarity she would say limon verde, but she wouldn’t say limon amarillo. I think it’s just because she hardly saw the yellow version until she came to the United States.

So I think if you see limon you can assume it to be limon verde. There simply isn’t much lemon in Cuban food and drinks. Not so much bad editing as it is a lack of options in Cuba.

[martin]

Thank you for the confirmation. I am aware of the unfortunate conditions. To be clear, the texts we’re wrestling with are from the 1910s–1940s, so, a somewhat different era (with its own problems).

Are you able to tell us more about the naranja de lima? Is it just a small sweet orange?

[EvanD]

From Orange (fruit) - Wikipedia

[EvanD]

From Citrus limetta - Wikipedia