Quick answer: Combava and lime are two green-skinned citrus fruits that can only replace each other in part. Lime gives acidic juice and a fresh zest; combava gives little juice, but a very fragrant zest that carries most of its aroma, especially in its leaves.
Combava and lime are two green-skinned citrus fruits, but they are not used for the same thing. Lime is squeezed for its acidic juice and fresh zest. Combava, on the other hand, is used mainly for its very fragrant zest, and for its leaves; its fruit gives little juice. In cooking, these are two different flavours, which can only replace each other in part.
What each fruit looks like
Lime is a small round fruit, with smooth, thin skin, full of juice. It is cut in half, squeezed, and its zest is grated.
Combava is a more rustic-looking fruit: its skin is thick and very bumpy. It grows on a shrub whose leaves, double and hourglass-shaped, are also used in cooking. The fruit contains little juice, but the skin concentrates a powerful, lemony, floral fragrance.
- Lime: smooth skin, plenty of juice, sharp acidity.
- Combava: bumpy skin, little juice, strong fragrance concentrated in the zest.
What changes in taste
Lime juice is sharp and clean. It lifts a dish, like a touch of freshness, and is drunk in a lemonade or a cocktail. Its zest adds a fresh, slightly bitter note.
Combava zest has a more intense, more complex fragrance: you can recognise the citrus, but also notes of flowers and leaves. It is not eaten in quantity: a small pinch flavours a whole dish. The juice, when you can find it, is very acidic and dosed by the drop.
How to use them
Lime
- Squeezed over raw or grilled fish, a salad, an avocado.
- In marinades, sauces and drinks.
- As grated zest over a dessert, a yoghurt, a cake batter.
Combava
- As grated zest or powder, in a marinade, a simmered dish, rice or raw fish.
- As leaves, added to a stock, a curry or a sauce, then removed before serving.
- In a flavoured rum or an aromatic drink, where its skin releases its aroma.
Combava powder is dried zest that has been ground. It is used like fresh zest, in small amounts, and keeps far more easily than a fresh fruit, which makes it practical outside the region where the tree grows. Our combava grows wild in Vangaindrano, in the southeast of Madagascar; our family picks it, then dries it before grinding it into powder.
Can one replace the other
Only in part. The two citrus fruits are alike in their fresh character, but they do not give the same result.
- Replacing combava with lime. Use the zest of the lime, not the juice. You get a citrusy freshness, but without the floral depth of combava. Add the zest in a small amount, taste, then add more.
- Replacing lime with combava. Combava does not replace the juice: it lacks liquid acidity. If your recipe calls for juice, keep the lime and add, if you like, a pinch of combava powder for the fragrance.
- Combining the two. This is often a good solution: the juice provides the acidity, the powder provides the fragrance.
Since recipes vary, we do not give a fixed ratio. Start with a small pinch, taste, add more if needed.
When to choose one or the other
Choose lime when the dish needs juice: a vinaigrette, a ceviche, a drink, a sauce to bind. Choose combava when you are after a fragrance: a rice dish, a fish dish, a marinade for poultry, a coconut milk sauce. For dishes where both acidity and fragrance are useful, the two can be combined.
Adding combava well
Combava powder should be dosed sparingly. Mix it into a marinade, a fat or some salt before adding it to the dish, which helps it spread evenly. It can withstand the heat of a simmered dish, but its fragrance is cleaner when added at the end of cooking. The leaves, on the other hand, go into the liquid from the start and are removed at the end.
Finding combava in cooking
To put this fragrance into practice, several recipes on our site use combava powder: sea bass carpaccio with combava, roasted carrots with vanilla and combava and coconut chicken flavoured with combava powder. The Madagascar combava page presents the spice, and the spice glossary explains the vocabulary.
Frequently asked questions
Can combava be replaced with lime?
Only in part: use the zest of the lime rather than the juice, starting with a small amount, since the result does not have the floral depth of combava.
Does combava give a lot of juice?
No, its fruit gives little juice; it is mainly its very fragrant zest, and its leaves, that are used in cooking.
What is the difference between combava powder and fresh zest?
The powder is dried zest that has been ground; it is used like fresh zest, in small amounts, and keeps more easily than a fresh fruit.
Can combava and lime be combined in the same dish?
Yes, this is often a good solution: the lime juice provides the acidity, the combava powder provides the fragrance.
Our products to go further: Wild Combava Powder
The Vanille Désiré team
