“General Benjamín,” she said, leaning over so that only he could hear her. “Sir, are things all right?” Her hair fell loose from behind one ear and it brushed against his shoulder. It smelled like lemons. Roxane had washed Carmen’s hair in some of the lemon shampoo Messner had had flown in for her all the way from Italy.

The smell of lemons. He is a boy in the city, a quarter lemon clenched between his teeth as he runs to school, the bright yellow of the lemon peel showing between his open lips, the impossible tartness, the utter clarity of taste that he was addicted to. His brother, Luis, is with him, running along beside him…”

Ann Patchett, Bel Canto

Almost everything tastes better with lemon. Especially fish and chicken.
And.
A lot of things taste better smokey… blistered and slight burnt.
This recipe combines both those things and so it’s doubly good.

It looks magnificent. The charred lemons look impressive… much better than the ubiquitous sliced uncooked ones. You can even spread a little honey over them, pre-charring, for extra sweetness.

And it’s very simple. You may as well put the lemons on the griddle as not while you cook the mangetout – what can you lose. It makes the lemon become juicier and more flavoursome.

It tastes to die for.

Have I sold it to you yet?

Griddled mangetout with burnt lemon and toasted fennel seeds

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Serves – 2

Ingredients

150/160g/6 oz mangetout… or stringless runner beans, sugar snaps or similar

1 lemon, unwaxed

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for frying

4 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt, this really is optional. I often don’t bother with the sauce.

salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat a griddle pan until medium hot, and dry fry the fennel seeds until you begin to smell them. Set aside.

Oil the pan (using a silicon brush if it’s still hot!) and, increasing the heat, cook the mangetout on both sides until they start to blister.

Meanwhile, cut the lemon in half and put both halves, cut side down on the griddle pan, until charred, but not black!

Meanwhile, if you think it will go well with the other things you are serving with this, you can make the sauce. In a small bowl mix the yoghurt, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pierce the lemon halves with a fork and squeeze a teaspoon or so of juice into the sauce.

Serve the beans, topped with the sauce and the fennel seeds, together with the lemon halves.