| Making marmalade is pure self-indulgence for me. | | | | 2 lemons |
| Nobody else in our house likes it, but I love the zesty | | | | 3 oranges |
| tang of marmalade on hot buttery toast. Maybe the | | | | 4 pint/2 litres water |
| taste for it is peculiar to the English - peculiar taste | | | | 3 ½ lbs/1.6kg sugar (if you use sour Seville |
| buds we must have to like marmite too with its salty | | | | oranges you need more sugar - 5lbs) |
| bite. Anyway a few times each winter I make a batch | | | | Wash the fruit, scrubbing the skins. Cut the fruit and |
| of marmalade, sell a few jars at the market and keep | | | | rind into shreds, however thick you like your peel in the |
| the rest to last me till next year. My parents also like it | | | | finished marmalade. Remove any very pithy bits and |
| when they visit. | | | | pips. Usually one should tie these in muslin and cook |
| I tried a new mixture of fruits yesterday, adding a | | | | with the fruit, to get the most pectin available, then |
| couple of limes and tangerines to the usual orange, | | | | remove the whole package pips and all . I haven't |
| grapefruit and lemon. True marmalade is made with | | | | bothered the last cuople of times and the marmalade |
| Seville oranges, a sour variety grown especially for the | | | | still seems to set. |
| English marmalade market, but I haven't ever found | | | | Put the fruit and water into a large pan (preferably |
| any out here in South Africa, so have to mix our | | | | thick bottomed) and bring to the boil, then simmer |
| sweet oranges with the sourer lemons and grapefruit | | | | gently for 1-2 hours until the rind is tender.Add the |
| to get the requisite zingy flavour. When I tried with just | | | | sugar off the heat and stir till it dissolves. Don't let the |
| oranges, I got a rather dull, sweet orange jam, that I | | | | marmalade boil again till it has dissolved. Boil briskly for |
| christened Mellow Marmalade - fine for soothing the | | | | about 30 minutes. Test for doneness by putting a drop |
| troubled tastebuds but not very stimulating. | | | | on a cold plate. If it forms a light skin that wrinkles |
| My marmalade production is still in the experimental | | | | when you push your finger through it is done. Keep |
| stages, each batch turning out different, so I have to | | | | testing every five minutes if not. The bubbles also |
| think up appropriate adjectives to describe the flavour, | | | | change to be slower, larger rolling bubbles when it is |
| to remember which is which. It might help the research | | | | ready. Ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal. |
| process if I remembered to write down what I did | | | | If you would like to try my variation on the fruit mixture, |
| each time...but I prefer the random element of surprise | | | | substitute two or three limes for one of the grapefruit |
| when it comes to tasting the results, so maybe I never | | | | and two tangerines for one of the oranges. Any citrus |
| will.Yesterday's batch is going to be called Fragrant | | | | fruits can be made into marmalade. My next |
| Citrus Medley - the limes give it an extra hint of | | | | experiment is going to include kumquats - we have a |
| perfume, and keep the zing alive! | | | | small tree here and none of the family really like that |
| Here is the recipe I use as a basic guide, provided by | | | | sweet/sour explosion on the tastebuds when you bite |
| my mother, who also makes her own supply. | | | | into them, except me and I can't eat a whole treeful |
| Three Fruit Marmalade Recipe | | | | myself! Happy marmalade-making! |
| 2 grapefruit | | | | |