The story of the Interdonato lemon starts with Giovanni Interdonato, one of Garibaldi’s colonels. His name lives on in history not thanks to his revolutionary actions, but because of a citrus fruit. The Interdonato is the outcome of a cross between a citron and a local lemon variety called Ariddaru. According to legend, this was the work of Interdonato, though it might simply have been a spontaneous mutation in his gardens. The resulting lemon is medium-large in size, with a delicate, only mildly acidic flavor. The skin has a very fine grain and the lemon has a characteristic large point at the bottom.
Image: © Fabio Artusi
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