North Africa · Drink
Citronnade Tunisienne (Sweet Whole-Pureed Lemonade with Almonds)
A cloudy, refreshing whole-lemon beverage perfumed with orange blossom water and garnished with crisp toasted almonds.
The story
Citronnade Tunisienne is the quintessential summer cooler of Tunisia, omnipresent at seaside cafés, family weddings, and afternoon receptions across the country. Developed from centuries of Mediterranean citrus cultivation, this preparation distinguishes itself from standard lemonades by cooking and puréeing the whole fruit—including the fragrant zest—rather than merely extracting the juice. The technical trick of a brief initial blanching removes excess bitter flavonoids from the inner white pith while extracting essential peel oils, yielding an opaque, velvety beverage traditionally garnished with floating sweet almonds.
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