Italian farmer Michele Cirelli might just grow the most sought-after fruit in the world. He grows citrons, called etrog in Hebrew, a delicate fruit that is an important symbol in the Jewish celebration of Sukkot every autumn.
source/image: Great Big Story
But he doesn’t grow your average citrus fruit. Nestled amid the mountains of Calabria, Italy, Michele’s farm has the perfect climate to grow citron.And his family’s 60-year tradition of growing this special fruit yields perfectly sized, blemish-free etrogs year after year.
That’s why Rabbis travel from all over the world to harvest his flawless, sacred citrus fruit.The Etrog citron looks like a large, knobby and sometimes ribbed lemon. It is a species of citrus fruit and is related to the Buddah’s Hand.
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One characteristic of this variety of citrus is a very thick rind and aromatic skin. It has very small sections and many, many seeds. The flesh of the Etrog is neither particularly sweet nor sour and sometimes there is very little to even taste.
