Seville oranges have arrived in the shops. They should be around until the end of January, so here is my favourite chunky marmalade recipe. It has a superb flavour and a delicious bitterness. It`s also very easy to make, as the fruit is cooked whole and softened before being sliced into chunky strips of peel. It comes from my first book, Modern British Food (see books page).
This marmalade keeps very well – I have some jars that date back five years and they still taste good. If possible, buy organic fruit for both good flavour and protecting the environment.
Makes 2.3kg/5lb
680g/1 ½lb Seville oranges
2 lemons
2 small oranges
1.7litres/3 pints water
1.4kg/3lb granulated sugar
1 heaped teaspoon black treacle
1 Wash all the fruit and place in a large pan with the water. Cover tightly, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 ½ hours, until the fruit is very soft and easily pierced with a knife.
2 Transfer the fruit to a bowl, leaving the cooking liquid in its pan. Once the fruit is cool enough to handle, slice it in half and with a spoon scrape out the pulp, pips and most of the pitch into a bowl. Return these to the pan, making sure that the pulp is thoroughly mashed up. Bring back to the boil and reduce by half before straining into a jam pan.
3 Sterilise your jam jars by washing them in hot soapy water, rinsing in very hot water, and then placing them in a cool oven, fan 130ºC/gas 1 to dry. Alternatively, wash in the dishwasher, then leave to dry with the dishwasher door partly open.
4 Finely slice all the fruit skins into thin strips (or chunks) and add to the jam pan. Clip on the thermometer and return to the boil before mixing in the sugar and black treacle. Stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved, then bring the marmalade up to the boil and allow it to reach setting point – 106ºC/220ºF – which should take about 10 minutes one the sugar has melted. Skim if necessary and then leave it to cool and settle 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to distribute the peel evenly.
5 Pour into warm dry sterilized jam and cover with paper discs. Seal once cool. Label and date.
