The last few weeks have been a frenzy of marmalade
making, Julia, and her team in the Farmers Market kitchen here at the Ballymaloe
Cookery School, have been slicing and juicing surrounded by preserving pans of
bubbling citrus peel.
The Seville and Malaga orange season is a short one –
running from mid-December to the end of February so there’s still time to whizz
off to the shops or Farmers Market to stock up with the bitter sweet, vitamin
packed citrus before they disappear off the shelves until next year.
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If your budget will stretch to it, buy more than you
can – they will freeze perfectly. All you need to do is throw them into the
freezer in a bag or box in the quantity you need for a batch of your favourite marmalade.
Seville Orange Marmalade is the real deal, bitter sweet,
the ‘classic’, made famous by Paddington Bear. It’s stronger, sourer and tangier
than preserves made from other citrus. Having said that, grapefruit, both ruby
and tart, lemons, limes, clementines, tangerines, mandarins, bergamots,
kumquats, alone or in combination make delicious marmalades.
How do you like yours? Marmalade is an intensely
personal taste. Some, like me, enjoy it dark and bitter, others prefer it fresh
and fruity, some love lots of peel, others prefer less chewy bits and more
wobbly jelly.
Seville and Malaga oranges are so called, because they
are indigenous to Southern Spain and grow in towns and villages along the
roadside. On my first trip to Spain I was intrigued by how law-abiding the
Spaniards appeared to be. They didn’t seem to pull the ripe oranges off the
trees…but I soon realised that these were bitter oranges so were less appealing
to eat fresh and you may be surprised to learn that Spaniards consider our
passion for marmalade a bit bizarre!
Seville oranges tend to be unwaxed, so the skin will
be softer and not as smooth as other citrus. Discard any that show signs of
decay and seek out organic fruit. Make your marmalade in small batches – say 2-
3 kilos of fruit at a time. Make yourself a cup of coffee, find a high stool,
grab a sharp knife, turn on the radio and hand slice the peel. It will be altogether
better than the sludgy result one gets from the food processor or mincer, I
find it therapeutic, but not everyone does. A batch a day is certainly manageable
– even better if you can entice someone else to get involved in the slicing –
maybe for a ‘bit of gas’ organise a Marmalade Party with a few friends and give
them a present of a pot for their input.
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| Image: Sharon Dunne Dowdall |
There’s magic in marmalade making, not sure what it is but there’s a terrific ‘feel good’ factor when you can admire a line of glistening jars like ‘good deeds’ on your kitchen shelf. A stocked pantry to see you through the year…
Apart from marmalade recipes there’s many good things
that benefit from a few spoons of marmalade or a little bitter orange zest e.g.
panna cotta, muffins or scones. Slather it over a loin of boiled bacon (remove
the rind first) and pop it under the grill to make a super quick and delicious
glaze.
Massage it over a chicken breast or wings with some
grated ginger and a little orange juice and then there’s Marmalade steamed
pudding, my father-in-law, Ivan’s favourite steamed pudding.
Old
Fashioned Seville Orange Marmalade
Seville and Malaga oranges
come into the shops after Christmas and are around for 4-5 weeks.
Makes approx. 7 lbs
(3.2kg)
2lbs (900g) of Seville
oranges, organic if possible
4 pints (2.3L/10 cups)
water
1 organic lemon
3 1/4lbs (1.45kg/6 1/2
cups) granulated sugar (warmed)
(Note on warming
sugar: The faster jam/marmalade is made the better. If you add cold sugar
it will take longer to return to the boil and will taste less fresh. Heat your
sugar in a stainless steel bowl in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes. Do not
leave it in too long or it will start to melt).
Wash the fruit, cut in
half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the membrane with a spoon, put with the
pips and tie them in a piece of muslin. Slice the peel finely or coarsely,
depending on how you like your marmalade. Put the peel, orange and lemon juice,
bag of pips and water into a non-reactive bowl or saucepan overnight.
Next day, bring everything to the boil and simmer gently for about 2
hours until the peel is really soft and the liquid is reduced by half. Squeeze
all the liquid from the bag of pips and remove it.
Add the warmed sugar and
stir until all the sugar has been dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a
full rolling boil rapidly until setting point is reached 5-10 minutes approx.
Test for a set, either with a sugar thermometer (it should register 220F), or
with a saucer. Put a little marmalade on a cold saucer and cool for a few
minutes. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it's done.
Allow marmalade to sit in
the saucepan for 15 minutes before bottling to prevent the peel from
floating. Pot into hot sterilized jars.
Cover immediately and store in a cool dry dark place.
N.B. The peel must be absolutely soft before the sugar is added,
otherwise when the sugar is added it will become very hard and no amount of
boiling will soften it.
