Key limes

Key limes are available fresh in stores year-round, and the juice of key limes may be purchased in bottles. Key limes are an excellent source of vitamin C, and enhance the flavor of many foods, including chicken, fish, shellfish, and other seafood.

Key Limes
Citrus fruit, about the size of golf balls, and round. The fruits are pale yellow-green, the juice is yellow and very tart,
more so than standard limes. Grow in Florida, the Keys and other tropical places in the Caribbean.

Key limes are one of the two main varities of limes, the other being the Persian lime. Key limes are from Florida. They are smaller and rounder with a color more yellow than green.

Key limes - Small, yellow-green limes that are tarter in flavor than the more common Persian limes. They are most famous for their role in key lime pie, the tangy custard pie made with a meringue topping. Key limes are often hard to find.

Key Limes
highest acid of all citrus
beverages, pie, juice/zest added to recipes ...

Key limes look like confused lemons, as they are smaller than a golf ball with yellow-green skin that is sometimes splotched with brown. They are also know as Mexican or West Indian limes.

Key limes and bottled key lime juice are widely available in the Southeast, and in specialty markets elsewhere. Liquor stores sometimes carry Rose's lime juice, which is sweetened key lime juice.

The Persian is the variety most commonly found in the food stores. The Tahitian limes are often used in the well-known key lime pie because key limes are often not available. Tahitian limes are not as acidic or aromatic as key limes.

Key elements include spices, citrus (like intense Key limes) and other fruits like mamey (a tropical fruit with a flavor something like a cross between peach and apricot), mango, and papaya are very common.

Today, many different lime varieties are known and cultivated. Small-fruited cultivars are often more aromatic; in the US, they are called 'key limes', since they are (or were) grown on Key West. Limes cultivated in tropical Asia have similar fruits.

Key Lime Pie - A pie, similar to lemon meringue, made with the tart, yellowish Key limes from Florida.

Key lime pie is a custard pie very similar to a lemon meringue pie, with a crumb or pastry crust made with the yellowish, very tart Key limes from Florida.

See also: Key lime, Flavor, Cooking, Lime, Juice