The Menton lemon was once a leading lemon-growing region in Europe, with a global reputation and exports as far as the United States and Russia in the 18th century
Every year, the town of Menton in France hosts a big lemon festival called the Fete du Citron.
They use over 140 tons of citrus fruits to make ornate floats and showy park displays that bring in thousands of tourists to the town But they don’t use the real Menton lemons, which were loved by King Louis XIV who liked to drink their juice and use their oils for baths.
There just aren’t enough of these special lemons, and they’re too valuable. “Honestly, we prefer that people taste our lemons rather than look at them on display,” said Marine Krenc, who helps organise events for Menton’s tourist office.
Menton used to be one of the leading regions in Europe for growing lemons. They were famous all over the world and even sent to America and Russia in the 18th century.
But then the French Revolution abolished laws that kept Menton safe from competition from other lemon growing areas. And as more tourists and rich people started coming to the Riviera, hotels and houses took over the land where the lemon trees used to grow.
Now, only 56 small farmers still grow these special lemons. Some of them are worried that climate change will make it even harder to keep growing them in the future. Pierre Ciabaud, a sixth-generation lemon grower, had to break with family tradition and set up a hardware and appliance store to make ends meet.
Now retired, he tends the family’s grove on one of the last remaining lemon hills overlooking the city of Menton. “The valleys of Menton used to be covered with lemon groves, there were trees everywhere,” Ciabaud said. Now, he said, “The land is sold to developers and all you see are buildings.”
He recalls his father collecting a ton and a half of lemons every 20 days. The region’s annual production now is about 200 tons. “A young person today would not be able to live from lemon farming,” Ciabaud said.
The region nestles between the French southern Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, covering about 100 hectares (247 acres) and stretching beyond Menton’s municipal boundaries into Roquebrune, Sainte-Agnes and Castellar.
The mild climate – from a protective mountain range, proximity to the sea and steady sunshine with moderate rain during winter months – and sandstone-rich soil give the Menton lemon its distinct flavor: acidic, but neither bitter nor sweet, and with a lemongrass scent in its zest.
They’re bigger than most lemons, with a thicker skin .During the lemon festival, visitors to La Casetta, a city-owned orchard, were treated to a taste of the Menton lemon by a caretaker who handed out slices. One woman took her slice, inhaled its scent for a long moment, then took a bite before handing it to a companion.Krenc says the Menton lemon is like “our caviar.”
Mauro Colagreco, a famous chef with a top restaurant in Menton called Le Mirazur, really likes it. He uses it in his fish meals and sweet treats. The Menton lemon got a boost in 2015 when the European Union granted it the protection of a geographical indicator, which aids in marketing the lemons and is intended to guard against lesser varieties misusing the name. It’s the only lemon in France to carry such an indicator.
Laurent Gannac has been growing lemons for a long time – 30 years. He moved to this area to work with plants and started his own lemon place from nothing. He worked hard to clean up the land, make flat areas on the hills, plant 400 trees, and get water to all of them.
He says the special protection from the EU has helped him, but he and his friend Ciabaud are worried about the weather changing. It’s been very dry for three years, getting hotter, and the seasons are all mixed up. But so far, the lemons are still doing okay because they get water from melted snow in the mountains.
But if the farmers want to keep making these yummy lemons, they’ll have to find ways to deal with the hotter weather, he said. “Our goal for the Menton lemons is that they land on a plate, in a restaurant, or in a gourmet jam for select customers,” Gannac said.
