Something is Always in Season

Seville oranges are best for marmalade-making

Those who have committed to eating seasonally in places where there is snow on the ground for, now going on three months of the year tend to find their conviction wavers in January and February.  Thankfully this is just when citrus comes into season.  And there is more to the winter citrus seasonality than just those ubiquitous crates of clementine oranges.  One perfect example of this is marmalade. 

The oranges during their long cooking process

Marmalade can be made from just about any citrus fruit but most traditionally it uses the Seville orange.  The internet is full of recipes and the process is pretty simple.  Cut the oranges, allow the small pieces to soak over night, cook for a couple of hours, and process in jars.  I’m not sure that I have the best recipe (so I won’t post it).

The recipe I used includes the instruction that the orange pips should be reserved, tied into a cheesecloth package and cooked with the rest.  Apparently, the seeds have much of the natural pectin that makes the marmalade set semi-firm.  We were out of cheesecloth when I made this so I cooked the pips in a separate saucepan with a half cup or so of orange juice and then strained the orange juice into the main pot after a couple hours.