01/06/2026
For years, I have worked with Kitagawa Village yuzu.
I have zested it, juiced it, candied it and baked with it. Yet until this spring, I had never seen a yuzu flower, let alone touched, smelled or tasted one.
On a recent visit to the farm, I was handed a freshly picked yuzu flower and encouraged to taste it.
To my surprise, it carried the unmistakable flavour and aroma of the fruit I already knew so well.
What stayed with me most, however, was its quiet elegance.
Not showy or extravagant.
Just understated and unforgettable.
In that moment, the connection between blossom and fruit became real.
Standing among the trees, breathing in their fragrance and seeing thousands of flowers scattered across the orchards, I realised there was still so much to learn about an ingredient I thought I knew well.
Every fruit begins here.
As a brief and beautiful flower.
For the first time, I was able to experience that beginning for myself — not in the kitchen, but in the orchard.
🍋🤍
