Curly leaf citron

[martweb]

How much better is Curly leaf citron (C. medica crispifolia) compared to Buddha's hand and bread citron?

[pagnr]

I know of Buddha's hand.
Not heard about Curly leaf citron (C. medica crispifolia) and bread citron?
Can you fill the gaps, sound interesting.

[citrange]

Better for what?
I've never considered citrons to be of much practical use, apart from smelling nice (flowers & fruit) and impressing people with the very large fruit and the strange fingered Buddha's Hand.
Perhaps martweb has found this article: Gastronomy and the citron tree https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X16300014
Strangely, this article makes little mention of the main culinary use I have come across. This is the production of candied peel which is frequently used here in England as an ingredient in the traditional Christmas Cake.
I also remember visiting the distillery on the Greek island of Naxos where citron leaves are made into a liqueur.
See my report at http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/citrusplaces/naxos.html

[martweb]

I would be mainly interested on how good citrons are for eating out of hand as slices or in salads. So is it worth it to buy a special cultivar or are the differences minor?

[Ilya11]

I would be mainly interested on how good citrons are for eating out of hand as slices or in salads. So is it worth it to buy a special cultivar or are the differences minor?

Corsican citron could be eaten whole  out of hand.
Its minor problem is that its flesh  contains many small seeds.

[martweb]

Do you like it and how is it compared to Kumquat rind? Is the Corsican citron better than Buddha's Hand?

[pagnr]

Citrons are attractive trees with distinct fruit. Most have fairly thick rinds, but with some pulp and juice.
There is probably a reason why lemon is more widespread than Citron now, a slight bitter element in many Citron types.
There are many varieties in many cultures.
Toronji has been discussed here, fully edible type.
Personally I would say any Citron is better than Buddahs Hand, apart from its unique looks.
There are also Citron hybrids.

Here is the UCR collection, there are more types around too.
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus-varieties/category-or-type/citrons
There is a lot of variation as to peel pulp ratio.
Some would be equal to Buddahs Hand apart from the fingers.
Others would be closer to Lemon.

[martweb]

Wow, that's a huge list. I want to use it as parent for citrus breeding. And yes, I only want to consider the non-bitter and not sour ones.

[Ilya11]

Corsican albedo has a texture of apple fruit, it is less sweet that that of Fukushu kumquat but more sweet than Nagami.

[Florian]

Here's an interesting paper "Gastronomy and the citron tree": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X16300014
I myself acquired a "Mangiali" last year but it has not flowered yet.