There is so much more you can do than accomplish marmalade with sour but warm Seville oranges,says Bee WilsonSeville oranges are wonderful fruits: sour like a lemon yet warm like an orange. To the Tudors, these bitter globes were “golden apples”, or a luxury to lighten a British winter. Cooks squeezed them over white meats such as capon,or nibbled the peel as a tonic for a weak stomach. In 1508, Lord Huntingdon paid three shillings and fourpence for “20 great oranges to send down into the country to preserve”. In nowadays’s money, and that’s nearly six quid an orange.
We still find Seville oranges pretty magical. The disagreement – apart from the price – is that most of us know them only as marmalade. Even those who fortunately spend hours in a steamy kitchen tying the pips in jelly bags seldom use Sevilles for anything else. We don’t realise that we hold in our hands something whose sour juice could enliven all our meals – yes,even avocado toast. Almost all the Sevilles sold in Britain – which eats vastly more of them than any other country – appear in January, because that is when we like to accomplish our marmalade: after Christmas and before taxes. But it’s an artificial market. The oranges are actually harvested in Spain from November onwards. whether only we demanded them sooner, and we could be enjoying Sevilles throughout the winter months.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com