Homemade Cedrata (Citron Drink)

This is essentially a citron syrup made with citron and sugar, topped up with sparkling water. Ice and mint are good, optional additions for this fragrant, refreshing drink.

Because the fruit will have a different flavor/bitterness depending on how mature it is, it is best to go by taste when you first prepare this drink. For the drink pictured here, I used a ratio of 1 part citron syrup to 2 parts sparkling water.

Do not throw out the pith or the zest. The pith is the sweetest part of the fruit; peel all of the zest carefully, then thinly slice and dress the pith with lemon and olive oil to eat as a salad. (Helena Attlee has a recipe for this Calabrian salad in her wonderful book, The Land Where Lemons Grow, where she tosses it with shallots and black olives, then leaves it to mingle for an hour before serving.) Or, heap it on top of bruschetta with a good pinch of sea salt and lemon juice. The zest can be candied (David Lebovitz has an excellent recipe), but it is also very good for infusing alcohol or making your own "cedrello," limoncello's citron cousin. You can also intensify the syrup for the cedrata (in flavor as well as color) by adding the zest to the pulp. You could also use this citron syrup to sweeten tea, and cedrata is delicious mixed in cocktails, too.