Keepable orange marmalade
Oranges (ideally bitter) cooked long with their peel and sugar until thickly set, potted to last through the months — the bitterness of the peel tempered by sugar.
Oranges (ideally bitter) cooked long with their peel and sugar until thickly set, potted to last through the months — the bitterness of the peel tempered by sugar.
The good housewife lets nothing of the season's bounty go to waste: what summer gives us, winter will return if we know how to keep it. Cook your whole oranges, peel and all, long with sugar, until the spoon leaves its trace. The bitterness of the skin, tamed by sugar, makes all the nobility of this preserve. Fill the pots, and on cold days you will find the scent of the South on a crumb of bread.
- •Oranges (preferably bitter) — several pounds (fruit and peel)
- •Sugar — nearly equal weight (preservation and setting)
- •Water — as needed (cooking)
- •A lemon — one (optional) (help setting)
Keepable orange marmalade
Oranges (ideally bitter) cooked long with their peel and sugar until thickly set, potted to last through the months — the bitterness of the peel tempered by sugar.
Why this dish? Since oranges appear only in season and are costly, a provident household like the Duplays' might have preserved their flavor in marmalade. This is the logical continuation of Robespierre's passion for this fruit: to prolong all year, in a pot, the taste of his only indulgence.
The good housewife lets nothing of the season's bounty go to waste: what summer gives us, winter will return if we know how to keep it. Cook your whole oranges, peel and all, long with sugar, until the spoon leaves its trace. The bitterness of the skin, tamed by sugar, makes all the nobility of this preserve. Fill the pots, and on cold days you will find the scent of the South on a crumb of bread.
Ingredients (period version)
- Oranges (preferably bitter) — several pounds (fruit and peel)
- Sugar — nearly equal weight (preservation and setting)
- Water — as needed (cooking)
- A lemon — one (optional) (help setting)
Ingredients
- Bitter oranges (otherwise oranges + 1 lemon) — 1 kg (fruit and peel)
- Sugar — 800 g (preservation and gelling)
- Water — 1 litre (cooking)
- Lemon juice — 1 lemon (help setting)
Method
- Scrub the oranges, cut them into thin slices with peel, removing seeds (reserve seeds in a cheesecloth, they help setting).
- Soak slices and water overnight to soften the peels.
- The next day, cook gently for 1 hour until the peels are very tender.
- Add sugar and lemon juice, bring to a boil and cook until setting point (a drop firms on a cold plate).
- Remove the cheesecloth of seeds, skim, and pour into scalded jars, seal immediately and invert the jars.
How it was made : Citrus peel jam, the ancestor of marmalade, was known in Europe since the Renaissance as a keepable preserve, sugar acting as a preservative. In the 18th century, sugar from the islands, still costly but widespread, made these preserves accessible to the upper bourgeoisie — a reasoned way to prolong the Incorruptible's favorite fruit.
The contemporary twist : Spread on buttered toast for breakfast and name the jar "Jam of the (Sweet) Terror" — bitterness civilized by sugar.
Robespierre · Charactorium
