or to replant it with more practical 
crops. One of these was the anomalous 
Tahiti lime. It probably arose from a 
chance cross in California, which im- 
ported large quantities of citrus fruit 
from Tahiti between 1850 to 1880. In 
any case, Tahiti limes were growing 
in Florida at least by 1883. Today, 
they are, to all intents and purposes, 
the only lime grown in the United 
States. Tahitis are also produced in 
Mexico, but primarily for export. 
Mexicans prefer true (Key) limes and 
pay a premium price for them, nearly 
twice what they will pay for Tahiti 
limes. No doubt smiling scornfully, 
Mexicans send us 16,620 metric tons 
of Tahitis in a year, but only about 
62 tons of real limes, which are 
shipped into California and Arizona. 
Americans, typically, have settled 
for a hybrid fruit of demonstrably in- 
ferior quality, but with ideal quali- 
fications for modern agribusiness. The 
Tahiti lime is bigger and lends itself 
to mass-scale agriculture far more 
easily than the Key lime because it 
keeps better, has no thorns, and grows 
a thick skin perfect for machine han- 
dling and long truck trips. Of course, 
life in these United States goes on 
well enough without the Key lime. 
The traditional Key lime pie — a gra- 
ham cracker shell filled with a sour 
custard made from juice, egg yolks, 
and sweetened condensed milk — 
tastes almost as good made with Tahiti 
lime juice. On the other hand, it is 
undeniably a fake. 
Because of agronomic and financial 
reasons having nothing to do with food 
quality, we are all duped in a small 
way every time we buy a lime and 
get a convenient substitute. We are 
defrauded whenever we order a Key 
lime pie and are served a surrogate. 
And we are the victims of a horti- 
cultural shell game if we believe the 
Key lime is a rare and exotic form 
of lime. The poorest Caribbean waif 
can find real limes in his local mar- 
ketplace, but in America we can only 
buy Tahiti limes in our glistening su- 
permarkets. Even, or perhaps espe- 
cially, in the Keys, the conspiracy to 
hide this botanical masquerade has 
succeeded -almost completely in per- 
petuating the myth of a regional dish 
that actually disappeared, as far as 
the general public is concerned, almost 
as soon as it had been invented. 
Raymond Sokolov, a writer with an 
interest in the history and preparation 
of food, is editor of Book Digest. 
Gene Barnes’s Key Lime Pie 
(Adapted from The Loaves and Fishes 
Cookbook, by Susan Costner and 
Devon S. Fredricks, Wallflower Press, 
Box 1275, Bridgehampton, NY 
11932) 
6 egg yolks, beaten 
1 1 5-ounce can sweetened condensed 
milk 
2 tablespoons evaporated milk 
V 2 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice 
1 tablespoon grated lime peel 
1 recipe graham cracker crust (see 
below) 
V 2 pint heavy cream, whipped 
1. Beat together the egg yolks, the 
condensed milk, and the evapo- 
rated milk until smooth. 
2. Stir in the lime juice and lime peel. 
3. Line a 9-inch pie tin with the gra- 
ham cracker crust. 
4. Fill the crust with egg-milk-lime 
mixture. 
5. Freeze. 
6. When the filling has solidified, 
spread the top with whipped 
cream. 
Yield: 8 servings 
Graham Cracker Crust 
VA cups graham cracker crumbs 
V 2 cup sugar 
Vi cup butter, melted 
Work all the ingredients together. 
This crust is meant to be pressed 
into the pie tin by hand, not rolled. 
Old Sour 
(From Conch Cooking, 
Florida Keys Printing & Publishing, 
405 Fleming St., Key West, Fla. 
33040) 
2 cups Key lime juice 
1 tablespoon salt 
1. Use ripe yellow limes only. Mix 
the salt and lime juice and let stand 
for a while. Strain through two lay- 
ers of cheesecloth as often as nec- 
essary to let the juice run through 
freely. 
2. Put the juice into bottles and let 
stand several weeks before using. 
Some say old sour should be put 
into bottles of brown or green glass; 
others say it makes no difference. 
Raw Conch Salad 
Skin the conchs and mince very 
fine. Chop onions very fine. Add salt, 
pepper, and old sour or fresh lime 
juice. Let stand at least an hour to 
blend. Serve without lettuce. (Note: 
The recipe lacks quantities, but the 
resourceful cook will add enough on- 
ion to invigorate the salad without 
overwhelming it.) Salt and pepper 
should also be added “to taste.” Use 
enough old sour or lime juice to 
moisten the conch bits and “cook” 
them, as in seviche. 
90 
