Simple Seville Orange Marmalade

as made in the Donaldson household

Linda Donaldson

It has always been one of the world’s great mysteries to me how it is that men, who the rest of the year say that they cannot boil an egg, as soon as we get to the end of January, start making vast quantities of marmalade!  I know this is about to happen when empty jam jars start collecting in the kitchen, and the annual pilgrimage to Waitrose begins.  Did you know that if you buy double the number, you can put them in the freezer, and the whole rigmarole can start again in the summer?

Seville oranges are in the supermarkets in 1kg boxes in Waitrose or 1.5kg boxes at Sainsburys.

Here are the quantities you will need for this recipe : Seville

Equipment needed:-

Large jam saucepan

Pyrex measuring jug

Pouring funnel

Digital thermometer (if possible but not essential)

1. Pour water into saucepan and let it heat up

2. Chop the Seville oranges.  It is easiest to use a food processor and slice any remaining large pieces. Put in the pan with the water, pips and all.

3. Add the juice of the lemons

4. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 2 hours

5. Put the jam jars in the oven on a tray to heat up at 90°C

6. Add the sugar and stir well

7. The pips are needed for the marmalade to set.  They will float on the top and you can either leave them in or fish them out while the marmalade is coming to its setting point.

8. Continue boiling until the temperature reaches 104.5° (or you can see the setting point by dropping a blob onto a cold saucer. )

9. Using the Pyrex jug, pour the marmalade into the jam jars using the funnel (if you have one)

10. Seal with the lids (but you do not need to bother with wax paper and rubber bands)

11. When cool, label the jars with a suitable reminder, and eat!

14th February—Valentine’s Day Mystery

There are two confusing things about this day of romance and anonymous lovecards strewn with lace, cupids and ribbon: firstly, there seems to have been two different Valentines in the 4th century – one a priest martyred on the Flaminian Way, under the emperor Claudius, the other a bishop of Terni martyred at Rome. And neither seems to have had any clear connection with lovers or courting couples.

So why has Valentine become the patron saint of romantic love? By Chaucer’s time the link was assumed to be because on these saints’ day -14th February – the birds are supposed to pair. Or perhaps the custom of seeking a partner on St Valentine’s Day is a surviving scrap of the old Roman Lupercalia festival, which took place in the middle of February. One of the Roman gods honoured during this Festival was Pan, the god of nature. Another was Juno, the goddess of women and marriage. During the Lupercalia it was a popular custom for young men to draw the name of a young unmarried woman from a name-box. The two would then be partners or ‘sweethearts’ during the time of the celebrations. Even modern Valentine decorations bear an ancient symbol of love – Roman cupids with their bows and love-arrows.

There are no churches in England dedicated to Valentine, but since 1835 his relics have been claimed by the Carmelite church in Dublin.

Parish Pump