Cooking With Coachella Valley Citrus: A Private Chef’s Winter Guide

Part of our series on cooking with Coachella Valley produce. See also: a private chef’s guide to Coachella Valley dates and seasonal ingredients a private chef loves.

Dates get the postcards, but citrus quietly does a lot of the work in a desert kitchen. Citrus is one of the Coachella Valley’s most valuable crops, behind only dates, grapes and bell peppers, and the season runs right through the months when the valley is busiest: December into spring. For a private chef cooking in Palm Springs, La Quinta or Indian Wells, that means the best acid on the plate often grew twenty miles away.

What grows here

Most of the valley’s citrus comes from farms around Thermal, Coachella and Mecca at the warm southeastern end of the valley.

• Lemons are now the big commercial crop, grown in Thermal for major distributors.
• Oranges, tangerines and tangelos come from smaller family ranches, some of which have been farming the same ground for decades.
• Grapefruit was once everywhere in the valley. Growers pulled a lot of it in the 1990s, so local grapefruit is now a small, prized crop that you’ll find at date gardens and farm stands in winter.

When it’s in season

Desert grapefruit and oranges are generally available from about December until May or June, and fruit left on the tree gets sweeter as the season goes on. That overlaps almost perfectly with snowbird season and the January-to-April event calendar, from the film festival to Modernism Week and the BNP Paribas Open.

How Chef Tien cooks with citrus

Citrus is acid, and acid is what makes rich food taste lighter in warm weather. A few ways it shows up on a Tien’s Table menu:

• Raw fish. Crudo and ceviche dressed with lemon, lime or blood orange. One guest wrote that she still dreams about his ceviche.
• Vietnamese dipping sauces. Nước chấm balances lime with fish sauce, sugar and chili, the sweet-sour-salty-spicy balance that runs through Tien’s Vietnamese cooking.
• Salads with dates. Citrus segments, sliced Zahidi dates, arugula or fennel, and a sharp vinaigrette. Two local crops on one plate.
• Marinades. Orange and garlic for grilled pork or chicken on a BBQ menu; lemon and herbs for fish on a seafood menu.
• Dessert. Lemon curd, citrus olive oil cake, grapefruit granita on a hot afternoon.
• Brunch. Fresh-squeezed juice and a citrus salad do more for a brunch table than any pastry.

Buying desert citrus

• Go to the source. Date gardens and farm stands along Highway 111 and in Thermal and Mecca sell local citrus in winter, often alongside dates.
• Pick heavy fruit. Weight means juice. Skip anything soft or with dry, puffy skin.
• Use the zest. The oil in the peel carries more aroma than the juice. Zest before you cut.
• Keep it cool, not cold. A few days on the counter is fine; longer than that, refrigerate.

A winter menu built on the valley

Want a menu built around what’s growing in the valley this week? Tell Chef Tien when you inquire. More menu ideas on our cuisines page, or read about Chef Tien.

Desert citrus FAQs

What citrus grows in the Coachella Valley?

Lemons, oranges, tangerines, tangelos and grapefruit, mostly on farms around Thermal, Coachella and Mecca. Citrus is one of the valley’s most valuable crops, behind dates, grapes and bell peppers.

When is citrus season in the desert?

Roughly December through spring. Local grapefruit and oranges are generally available from December until May or June, which lines up with the peak season for private dinners in Palm Springs.

How does a private chef use citrus?

For acid and brightness: crudo and ceviche, vinaigrettes, marinades, Vietnamese-style dipping sauces, citrus salads with dates, and desserts like curd, granita and olive oil cake.

Sources: Palm Springs Life on the history of Coachella Valley citrus; Shields Date Garden on local citrus availability.