Orange Tree Very Pretty

View from Richo's Kitchen
Recipe for Seville Oranges

One of the distinct features of Cabra is the rows of Seville Orange trees that line the streets. At the moment there are many trees with Orange blossom blooms. They point people to Semana Santa (Easter) and Spring. Some are bearing fruit. But the fruit on the trees is not edible, too sour (Orange Tree very pretty, but the taste of the oranges is impossible to eat…) It seemed a shame to let such a lot of Oranges go to waste. So the best thing to do with sour Oranges? Make marmalade! Here is a recipe which worked a treat. It set, the first jam that I’ve ever made that set without jam setter.

Seville Marmalade (From Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion)

5 Seville Oranges (For best results pick them fresh off the trees in the Street. Don't let the neighbours see you!)
Water
Salt
Sugar

Method:

Quarter the fruit, remove all the pips and central stringy membrane. Thinly slice fruit. For every 500 grams of prepared fruit add 1.8 litres of water and ¼ of a teaspoon of salt. Simmer fruit, water and salt until peel is soft and easily squashed. Allow to rest in a stainless steel bowl for 24 hours. Next day, bring to boil in a stock pot a measured amount of the mixture. For every cup of fruit mixture, allow a cup of sugar. Roughly for 500 grams of prepared fruit and 1.8 litres of water, you will need 1 ½ kilos of sugar. Bring the fruit mixture with the added sugar to the boil and cook for 25-30 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon from time to time. Test after 25 minutes to see if jam is at setting stage. Take a small amount in a teaspoon and place on a cold saucer. Allow to cool. If once cool, you slide your finger through the blob and it separates and remains separate, it is ready to bottle. Place marmalade in sterilized bottles which are still hot. Put lids straight on.

To eat:
The next day, spread on toast with thickly spread butter and for a treat lashings of bacon. (From Cooking with Fat)

Bible Verse: 16 … all fat is the Lord’s. 17 ‘It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat …Leviticus 3:16, 17