The Gourmand's Lemon. A Collection of Stories and Recipes

Join the culinary experts at The Gourmand on an in-depth exploration of the literary, linguistic, historic, and gastronomic legacy of lemons, where the line between food and art is happily blurred. Featuring original recipes that celebrate the versatility and complexity of the king of citrus in the second volume of the best-selling series.

A gastronomic voyage through art, film, literature, and recipes

The deceptively simple lemon takes center stage in the second volume of TASCHEN’s collaboration with The Gourmand, masters of the rich intersection of food and art. The star of Renaissance gardens, that shaped the Medici dynasty, have the power to ward off scurvy, had a hand in forming the mob, and whose juice has been used as an invisible ink since 600 CE to pen covert messages, these joyful yellow orbs are ripe with intrigue. The Gourmand charts the fruit’s astonishingly intricate genealogy, explores its role as a literary device for the likes of Joan Didion, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Wolfe, and James Joyce, and examines its unique representation of the American dream through lemonade stands. 

A favorite subject of art history’s giants, the lemon captivates in the still lifes of Old Masters and inspired the breakthroughs of modern visionaries like Picasso, Matisse, and Warhol. Lemons also find themselves at the cutting edge of design in Philippe Starck’s iconic Juicy Salif and the unassuming yet revolutionary Jif Lemon. Their presence extends to the decorative arts, gracing everything from Arts and Crafts wallpapers to mythological ceramics. Even the famed Bloomsbury Group found lemons entangled in their literary love affairs.  

Accompanying these citrus-centric anecdotes are a foreword by chef and acclaimed food writer Simon Hopkinson and an introduction by art critic and author Jennifer Higgie alongside more than 60 lemon-infused recipes across global cuisines and for every occasion—including perfect poultry, decadent sauces, classic cocktails, and indulgent desserts, with custom photography by Bobby Doherty. 

The author

The Gourmand is David Lane and Marina Tweed, creators of the eponymous food and culture journal founded in London in 2011. Through publications, films and experiences they explore the fields of art, design, literature, film, fashion, and music through the universal subject of food. Their work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Die Zeit, and Le Monde, and exhibited at the Design Museum, London. 

The contributing author

Jennifer Higgie is an Australian novelist, screenwriter, and art critic based in London. She has written numerous articles and books on contemporary art, most notably The Mirror & The Palette, and was Frieze magazine’s Editor-at-Large until 2021. Literarily versatile, she is also the author and illustrator of the children’s book There’s Not One, the editor of The Artist’s Joke, and author of the novel, Bedlam. Higgie has served as a jurist of many fine art awards, including the Turner Prize and Moores Painting Prize.  

The Gourmand's Lemon. A Collection of Stories and RecipesHardcover, 20 x 27.9 cm, 1.23 kg, 272 pages