Bergamot is the mysterious and enchanting soul of Earl Grey tea!
The bergamot is an aromatic citrus fruit of highly disputed origin. Its name suggests that it may have originated in the Italian town of Bergame.
Alternatively, its roots may lie in the Spanish town of Berga, north of Barcelona. Others argue that its name is derived from the Turkish “beg armudi”, meaning “the lord’s pear”. Indeed, 18th century speculators claimed that this “aromatic fruit” was created by grafting a lemon tree branch to a bergamot pear tree.
A further hypothesis claims that bergamot is a cross between a bitter orange and sweet lime, created accidently in southern Italy between the 14th and 15th centuries.
Who knows where the truth lies?
However, we do know of a Garden of Hesperides in Eus, a Catalan village in the eastern Pyrenees, where Mr Bachès reached out and picked a bergamot that was mysterious and enchanting.”