h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just love Thai food. I like cooking it, but best of all I like eating it. However.....a number of recipes call for Kaffir Lime leaves. Where the **** can I buy some? Local Asian shops? No. Sainsbury's. No. Any ideas please? This should be listed in H2G2!!!

Kaffir lime leaves used to be available in Safeway and other large supermarkets up until a couple of years ago, but now the import of them has been banned! I think it's all down to an EC directive - go figure.

Specialist Asian shops might still have them, but only if they are specifically Thai or very large. You can also sometimes get dried lime leaves in pots (with the other spices) in big supermarkets.

My understanding was that here in the UK, import of Kaffir lime leaves was restricted a couple of years ago due to risk of some kind of bug (insect or disease, I know not which) infecting Britain. The freeze-dried ones work reasonably well but are horribly overpriced. You can sometimes still find huge bushes of the things in Asian shops.

I can report that 20 years on they're freely available in any supermarket. They're pretty dry but I always put them in Thai green curry (usually with the zest and peel of at least one fresh lime, too).