Featured in nearly every type of cuisine from Mediterranean to Indian, Mexican to Russian, lemons can be used in plenty of imaginative ways, both as food decoration and in recipes. It’s commonly used to enhance the flavour of food and is an excellent substitute for salt or vinegar.

This citrus fruit goes well with many other foods like vegetables, soups, sauces, cakes, custard, ice cream, sorbets, garlic, basil, coconut, honey, ricotta, goat cheese, blackberries and blueberries.

The juice from the fruit can be used in a marinade and to tenderise meat, poultry, fish and shellfish. Also, a good tip on how to use lemon is to grate the peel (sometimes called the ‘zest’) in recipes for desserts and cakes.

Adding just a few drops of the juice will:

• Prevent other fruit from going brown, e.g. avocados, apples or bananas
• Stop rice from sticking when added to boiling water for cooking
• Tenderise meat by breaking down its tough fibres
• Make lettuce crisper if you soak the leaves in some water mixed with lemon juice, then allow them to dry
• Revamp many dishes, sprucing up creamy recipes and acting as an excellent salt substitute
• Ensure brown sugar stays soft if you add a slice of the fruit to your sugar jar
• Help to cook the best hard-boiled eggs if you rub a little juice on the shell before adding the eggs to boiling water