When Life Gives You Lemons

Lemon Sorbet from Il Ruttino

Some things just go hand in hand like peanut butter & jelly, mornings & coffee, and summertime & lemon-flavored everything. I happen to not like lemon flavors a lot, especially in baked goods. I’d choose a chocolate muffin over a lemon muffin any day of the week, and I honestly find lemon-flavored sweets quite nauseating. So naturally, coming to Italy, I wasn’t as excited about limoncello or sorbet as I was for tiramisu and espresso. But wow–has my mind been changed!

My complicated relationship with lemons began the first week in Arezzo when I was told that lemon gelato was the superior flavor to order. Skeptical, I complied, and the sour and tart kick to the mouth was refreshing on those hot days.

"The best made lemonade." - Grace Terrell

Next was my run-in with limoncello, which did not go as smoothly. That same sour flavor hit my tongue but so did a sickly sweet taste finished off with–and I’m not kidding–a gasoline-like burning down my throat. I still can’t understand how people drink this stuff or why it’s so popular.

My last and the best experience with lemon desserts happened this weekend with this extraordinary lemon sorbet. It came served in a lemon, which was a great first impression. It was a combination of sour and sweet that was perfectly balanced, yet so smooth and refreshing and honestly, just simply so good. Il Ruttino switched my perception of lemon-flavored desserts, and I’m so thankful! It turns out that lemons & summertime really do go hand in hand, even for me.

Storyteller: Grace Terrell

Editor: Haden Mock

Photographer: Grace Terrell