Preserving lemons

It was a quiet market yesterday, just getting started after the holidays and with only the fruit and vegetable stall there, but I was very pleased to find some untreated lemons. Fruit that has not been treated after harvest is quite easy to find, but it's rare to find organic lemons. I bought some to preserve, cutting them and salting them, packing them into a glass jar with a paprika pepper and some bay leaves, and covering them with olive oil.

Yesterday was busy, with some work starting in our little house and then an evening of tapas and jazz in a bar in Pézenas, so this morning was the first chance I'd had to preserve the lemons. It will be about a month before they're ready to use, but I've also used two of the lemons to make a quick version, from a recipe in the Jerusalem book, slicing them very thinly and mixing them with salt, sugar, parprika, crushed garlic and cumin. They'll be ready to use in a day or so and will be useful for all kinds of recipes I intend to try while C is here, or that he will make as he is an excellent cook.