dining

The "regular" limes are out of season now

You can grow all manner of lemons and limes in Panama, but the "limon criollo" is the variety of lime most popular in Panama, in the juice of which our most truly authentic Panamanian ceviches are pickled. However, now that dry season is well underway, those limes aren't in season and won't be until several weeks after the rains return.

We do, however, have the orange-fleshed "limones chinos" --- Panamanians call just about anything different "Chinese" --- the Rangapur limes that are great for making raspados and lemonades but not so wonderful in tea or ceviche. These fruit, shown ripening on a tree in San Carlos, are the only Panamanian limes available from most street vendors or supermarkets at this time of the year.

There are a relatively few people with third options, because there are other varieties of lemons and limes that produce during the dry season that grow well here. It's just that they aren't grown commercially.

Photo by Eric Jackson

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The usual Panamanian limes are out of season...