Fooled by True Lemon!

My colleague Mike Woosley, CFO at BDMetrics, tipped me off to a crystallized lemon substitute known as True Lemon. Though the Consuming Ambitions readership is likely no larger than the size of Bon Appetit circulation in Monaco, Mike kindly suggested to his friends at manufacturer Grand Brands that they send me a press kit so I could sample and blog the product. In case anybody from Sony is reading, I want to say that besides food, I love consumer electronics and I'm sure I could find some way to manufacture a food connection to any devices that might happen to show up in my mailbox!

True Lemon factoids:

• True Lemon is a crystallized lemon substitute made with 100% all-natural ingredients and is available in both packets and a shaker bottle for use in cooking, baking, and seasoning.


• True Lemon is made from the oils and juice of lemons, capturing the flavor and taste (for the geeks among us, the taste fidelity relates to how the lemon oils are encapsulated and how the particle size distribution facilities dissolution -- patent pending!).


• Diet and health friendly: no natural or artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or sodium. 0 calories, 0g carbs, 0 fat. Does give you 25% RDA of Vitamin C.

To put the product to the test, I devised an extremely unscientific "True Lemon vs. real lemon" taste-off. I prepared two glasses of lemonade, one with 1/2 tablespoon of True Lemon, the other with its equivalent of 1/4 cup lemon juice (straining out the telltale pulp for a fair test). To each lemon product I added 8 ounces of water, and a teaspoon of sugar (I like it tart). I closed my eyes and asked my wife to mix up the glasses and hand them to me. After trying both, I had to admit that I could not distinguish True Lemon from the real lemon juice. I ended up deciding that the more fragrant and tart glass was real lemon -- but got fooled by True Lemon! The True Lemon actually packed a stronger lemon aroma than the real juice. It turned out the the real lemon happened to be sweeter than average, which should have been a clue (since True Lemon is made only with lemon oils and juice and contains no sweetness).

I didn't have time to test True Lemon in cooking or baking, but will update the post if I do. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy it in my water and cola. I stashed a handful of the packets in my desk at work.

Under the theory that every kitchen should always have fresh lemons and limes on hand, but inevitably will be caught short from time to time (damn that incompetent butler!), I'd recommend keeping some True Lemon on hand. You can even give it a try on somebody else's nickel. In my neighborhood True Lemon is available primarily at Albertson's, a supermarket chain which seems to be rapidly disappearing in these parts, but you can check your own ZIP code to find it. Of course, there's always eBay. Another option that we have had reasonable success with at home is Minute Maid's frozen lemon juice (which maintains flavor much better than refrigerated pasteurized products I had used in the past) but the frozen format is less convenient for quick use.

Grand Brands also produces True Lime, same deal for limes. Indeed, "Citrus made simple."

Comments

[christopher carfi]

lemonade, fine, but...what about in mojitos? any field reports out there?

[sistah_pink]

Yo Tomasito!
You wrote "Real Lemon" when you meant "True Lemon". What's a confused reader to do?
Ciao baby!

[Tom Cole]

Whoops, good catch sistah, fixed it!

[Gerri Baum]

I'm hooked on True Lemon and keep it at home and in my office. I do cook with it and it has been so easy to use. Some times I just pour a packet or two on to vegetables or fish and sometimes I reconstitue it replacing equal amounts of the True Lemon juice for an acual lemon. Add it to rice and pasta dishes for an extra tangy flavor, and sprinkle it on chicken for a lucious arromatic treat. It even works great for baking. No more spoiled lemons in my house. It seems to keep on the shelf forever.