 A favourite breakfast staple
Just a few days ago the bitter oranges from Seville started to arrive in our shops. The season is a very short one – from around mid-January to mid-February – and, as these oranges make the best marmalade, this is traditionally the marmalade season.
Judy Merry has been talking about the history of marmalade to the food writer Elisabeth Luard, but first she went to see Mark Duerr who’s the Managing Director of Duerr’s in Manchester. They have developed a very special jar of marmalade.
Clear marmalade
Fine strips of peel suspended in a jewel-bright jelly - my own favourite marmalade. For some reason, cane sugar works better in preserve-making than beet-sugar. No doubt there is absolutely no chemical reason why this should be so. But it's true.
Makes about 6 jars
12 Seville oranges
3 sweet oranges
3 lemons
500ml water per 500g fruit weighed after peeling (about 2 litres)
500g cane sugar to each 500ml juice (you’ll need about 2.5k sugar)
Wash all the fruit and pare off the peel, avoiding the pith, as finely as you can with a very sharp knife. Cut the peel into fine matchsticks and reserve.
Weigh the fruit and measure the right amount of water into a preserving pan. Remove the white pith and discard. Chop the flesh and add it to the water in the pan. Bring the boil, turn down the heat and cook steadily for 1/2 an hour, stirring every now and again.
Strain the contents of the pan through a clean linen cloth (I pin mine to an upturned stool with a bowl beneath). Measure the liquid back into the pan, stir in 500g sugar for every 500ml of liquid and add the reserved peel. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar melts. Turn up the heat and boil the mixture for 30-35 minutes until the jelly is at setting point. Test the set by pouring a little onto a chilled saucer - it’s ready when it wrinkles and holds its shape when pushed with your finger. Leave to cool and give it a stir. Pot as usual in clean, hot jars.
Chunky Marmalade
A fragrant, dark, chunky marmalade with a satisfying bite. You can reduce the bitterness by removing some of the pith when you rub the cooked fruit through the sieve (add any extra pulp to the bag with the pips). You can prepare the pulp (sans sugar) and freeze it in bags for future marmalade-making. The longer you cook the marmalade the darker it becomes (this also happens if you cook it twice).
Makes about 6 jars
1k Seville oranges - about 8
1k unbleached cane sugar
The juice of 2 lemons
Scrub the oranges and put them in a roomy preserving pan. Pour in enough boiling water to cover. Leave for 5 minutes, remove the oranges and peel them - easier after scalding. Return the peeled fruit and skin to the pan. Bring back to the boil, turn down the heat, lid loosely and simmer for 1-2 hours, till the peel is perfectly tender.
Cut the peel into fine slivers and reserve. Sieve the fruit and pith into a measuring jug, saving the pips and tying them up in a scrap of clean cloth. Measure the liquid in the jug and return all the the pan with the slivered peel, bag of pips and the lemon juice. For every 250ml of pulp, stir in 500g sugar. Bring to the boil and bubble gently till you reach setting-point - 20-30 minutes. Stir regularly - it may look juicy but it can easily stick and burn.
To test for set, drop a teaspoonful on a cold saucer and place in the freezer for a few minutes, then push the surface with your finger: it’s ready when it wrinkles. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Fish out the pip-bag and give it a stir to make sure the chunky peel stays suspended. Ladle into clean hot jars (this is the moment to stir in a drop of whisky). Cover and seal.
More Seville orange recipes in Elisabeth Luard’s The Cooking of Spain and PortugalÌý Kyle Cathie, £25 -
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