Making Marmalade

Oxford University has a newcomers club that meets weekly.  I finally had the time to attend and to sign up for a few outings.  This week’s outing was a marmalade making class held in a lovely old home in north Oxford and taught by a wonderful woman who has been making marmalade for over 50 years!

It is curious that marmalade is a British concoction when oranges don’t even grow in Britain.  The world marmalade originally comes from the Portuguese term for preserved quince. It has evolved to become the general term for citrus preserves, generally from the Mediterranean countries. 

Hundreds of years ago the British discovered that marmalade was an excellent way of providing vitamins when fresh fruit was not available and they used it to help prevent scurvy and other illnesses on board merchant and navy vessels. The British found that oranges and sugar could be made to set and preserved by using just the chopped peel of oranges without the need for additional pectin. As such, the world has come to accept that marmalade is a British specialty and the best marmalades come from the United Kingdom.   

The tastiest marmalade I’ve tried was a quince, lime and ginger marmalade.  I’m still searching for that recipe.  Here is the recipe we used this week.  It was easy to make and so fresh and delicious to taste, provided you can find oranges from Seville, Spain.

Seville Marmalade:

2 lbs. Seville oranges – or any bitter/not sweet oranges (frozen and thawed)

2 lemons

4 lbs. white sugar

2 pints water

Directions:

1.    Cut oranges and lemons in half, squeeze out the juice, then remove the pith and pips (in American speak: pulp and seeds).   Place everything but the peels in a saucepan.

2.    Cut the orange and lemon peels in half again and cut them up in a food processor or hand cut into thin julienne pieces.

3.    Place the chopped up oranges/lemons peels with the squeezed juice into a glass container with a lid and add1 pint water.  Microwave on high for 12 minutes.

4.    In the meantime, bring to boil all the pith and pips in the saucepan with 1 pint water then strain this mixture into the large pan.  Add the microwaved and softened peels and the sugar.   Stir until sugar is dissolved and then bring to boil.  Boil until marmalade changed color to dark orange and passes the saucer test (about ½ hour) Ladle into clean, warm jars, seal, and leave to cool. 

5.    Saucer test: Put a few small plates into the freezer. After the marmalade has boiled for about 20 minute, start testing it by placing a small amount of the hot jelly on a chilled plate. If the jelly spreads out and thins immediately, it isn't ready. If it holds its shape a bit, that's a good sign. Push up against it with your fingertip. If the jelly sample wrinkles at all, it is time to take the jelly off the heat and pour it out into jars.