the.com/makrut
The citrus whose double leaf is worth more than its ugly, bumpy fruit.
means A knobbly-skinned Southeast Asian citrus (Citrus hystrix) prized in cooking chiefly for its intensely fragrant double-lobed leaves and its bumpy, aromatic rind.
from From Thai 'makrut' (มะกรูด), the plant's everyday name. You may know it by an older English label that paired 'kaffir' with 'lime' — but that first word carries a slur with roots in Arabic 'kāfir' ('infidel'), and 'makrut' has steadily replaced it for good reason. The species name 'hystrix' is Latin for 'porcupine,' a fittingly spiky nod to that warty skin.
- name change
- Old English name dropped as a racial slur
- leaf power
- Figure-eight leaves perfume Thai and Lao curries
- juice rarity
- Fruit yields almost no usable juice
- cleaning duty
- Rind used as shampoo and floor cleaner
- native range
- Tropical Southeast Asia, from India to Borneo
makrut lime — citrus fruit native to southeast asia, used in thai and indonesian cuisine for its intensely fragrant leaves and zest
kaffir lime — alternative name for the same citrus hystrix plant, commonly used in malaysian and filipino cooking