
Why are we calling these ‘Makrut” Lime Leaves these days?
“What’s in a name?” For many years this tree has been called a kaffir lime tree, as the fruits are rough and seen as inferior. Kaffir was a term used to denote inferior persons in the former South Africa and other nations involved in the slave trade. In some Asian countries the term means “non-believer”. This word is now considered to be generally offensive and a racial slur, and consequently in future writings, I have adopted the name used in Thailand “Makrut” as Thailand is one country whose cuisine is well known globally, and uses these leaves copiously.
Other common names are:
- Indonesian lime leaves
- kaffir lime leaves
- lime leaf
- wild lime leaves