Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spaghetti with lemon, basil and breadcrumbs - MW

There are grapefruit the size of small football and limestone like fish eggs; smooth skin, sweet and bitter orange with chicken skin; Four types of tangerines, each with more seeds than the next; pale grapefruit and ...

In total, 133 types of fruits and 28 types of citrus, all the breeze from the botanical garden in Palermo were sent to a cooking school for a flavor workshop. Fabrizia Lanza, the school curator, reminded us that while it was a sensory session, not a citrus classing lesson, it is worth noting that most modern varieties are hybrids. of three fruits: tangerine, grapefruit and lemongrass. We stood next to a large table, each of 28 types on a plate, one cut out, the plates spread all over the table to feel like a crazy, aromatic tea party.

We squeeze, smell, scratch, squeeze, taste and frown. I remembered being eight years old in the John Lewis perfume department, and while mom was talking intensely to a celestial assistant, I was spraying myself and my clothes with as many samples as possible, then I felt the impression that I will kneel. What is interesting, however, is the speed with which we have adapted to the collective whirlwind of citrus odors, after a while having a hard time smelling anything, without forgetting to define it. The solution is to get out. Five minutes in the open air is enough to correct and appreciate the tide of essential oils at the entrance.

At the end of the session, we push the plates to one end of the table, ready to be arranged in a heap: one for jam, one for preserving sugar, one for pigs - or we can take as many as we want to. I returned to Rome the next morning, with hand luggage, which forced me to resist my desire to hoard and choose only five.

On the plane I pushed my bag under the front seat. It was very close and warm, so a few minutes later, I jumped off my shirt, and jumped down to unzip my pocket and tuck my jacket in. The scent of citrus flew to my face, and so was the woman beside me - she was delighted. So I pulled my pompia fruit to show her. I quickly grabbed the fruit the day before, noticed a strange ridge on it, but didn't take it completely. Now I did - we did. The fruit is about the size of a cricket, with an orange-yellow skin and enlarged pores, not just a ridge, but a kind of split, and swollen, small growth. There are two ways about it; even the most shy of people cannot deny that - and especially not the interesting Sicilian octagonist beside me: my citrus has a vagina.

Back home, he sat for three days in pride at the top of the fruit bowl, and every day I became more interested in my fruit. On the fourth day, one side felt soft - it was too beautiful to waste, so that night we had a slice of gin and tonic. The next day, for the rest, I made one of my favorite dishes: spaghetti with lemon, basil and bread crumbs for daily crushing.

Spaghetti with lemon, basil and breadcrumbs

Server 4

1 large lemon

100ml of olive oil

120g parmesan, ground

Salt and black pepper

1 handful of basil leaves

40g fine dry breadcrumbs

Spaghetti 400g

Put a large pan of brine in boiling for spaghetti. Prepare bread crumbs: heat a little olive oil in a pan and add crumbs, along with a pinch of salt, push them around so they are baked and smell like biscuits digest. Pull from heat and head into a bowl.

When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, crush the lemon zest and then squeeze the juice from it - you want four tablespoons. Tear the basil into small pieces.

In a large, warm bowl, mix the juice and peel with olive oil, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.

Either drain the pasta, save some cooking water, or use tongs to lift spaghetti directly into the lemon bowl. Toss thoroughly, add some pasta cooking water to loosen and basil, toss and swing back, then serve immediately, passing through the debris.

MW