Harold McGee

Lemon Balm

Appears in
On Food and Cooking
On Food and Cooking

By Harold McGee

Published 2004

  • About

Lemon or bee balm is an Old World species, Melissa officinalis, distinguished by its mixture of citrusy and floral terpenes (citronellal and -ol, citral, geraniol). Lemon balm is usually paired with fruit dishes and other sweets.

From the book On Food and Cooking (2nd edition) by Harold McGee. © 2004 Harold McGee. By permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.