Time for marmalade

All the good oranges come from Spain to Irish shops in January, so its time to make some marmalade. Darina Allen tells how.

Have you noticed how delicious the oranges are at present, full of sweet juice – I particularly love the exquisitely sweet Spanish oranges that appear in the shops for a short time in January and the navels from Spain and Morocco, with the little baby orange tucked inside. What a happy arrangement of nature that citrus fruits are at their very best during mid-winter when many other fruits are out of season – sad tasteless versions of their summer glory.

Every year, the citrus fruit family seems to expand a little further as more and more hybrids come on stream. They range from the tiny kumquats which can be eaten "skin and all", like the Corkman eats his spuds, to the giant pomelo with a flavour reminiscent of green grapes and grapefruit.

The clean, fresh taste of oranges is doubly welcome after the excesses of Christmas, and I doubt if its an accident of nature that they are at their best when we need to boost our immune system with extra Vitamin C to ward off winter colds and flus.

Watch out for the marmalade oranges from Malaga or Seville – they are just appearing in the shops now and will be around for about a month only.

The streets of Seville and many of the villages in Andalucia are lined with orange trees at present. In spring the fragrant perfume of the orange blossom fills the air in a most delicious way, but at this time of the year the ripe fruit hang appetizingly from the branches. I was curious why the tempting oranges were not plucked by every passerby who might fancy a juicy orange to boost their vitamin C.

Well, the answer to the riddle is easy to understand when one discovers that these are Seville oranges – far too bitter to eat but perfect for marmalade. Furthermore, the Spaniards don't fancy marmalade and think the British and Irish tradition of making this bittersweet conserve is eccentric to say the least.

On a recent trip to Seville, I learned that the British Consul in Seville used to arrange to have the oranges picked. The ex-pats would come to the embassy and be presented with a New Year present of a basket of Seville oranges to make their own marmalade.

The majority of the Seville and Malaga orange crop is exported – they will appear in our shops and are only in season for the next few weeks, so rush out and buy them while they are still fresh.

Choose bright unblemished fruit – if there's even one tiny soft spot, the whole orange will be tainted, so don't imagine you are getting a bargain.

I adore making marmalade. There's something about the smell which is so comforting and the result is so rewarding. The jars of marmalade with chunks of bitter peel shining through the jelly make me long for toast and butter to spread it on. Here we have my favourite recipe. Remember, it is crucial to cook the peel until really soft before adding the sugar – otherwise, no amount of cooking will soften it.

By the time the peel is soft, the liquid should be reduced to between a third and half of its original volume – otherwise the marmalade will take ages to come to boiling point and lose its fresh taste.

If you are daunted by the task of making enough marmalade for the coming year remember marmalade oranges freeze brilliantly. Check my website www.cookingisfun.ie for a recipe which works brilliantly for whole oranges. Here are a few extra ways for using marmalade.

Ten yummy ways to use marmalade

1. Bread and Butter Pudding – substitute marmalade for sultanas and allspice. Add a dash of Grand Marnier to the custard for extra excitement

2. Steamed Pudding – substitute marmalade for raspberry jam and serve with marmalade sauce

3. Muffins – pop a teaspoon of marmalade into the centre of a muffin before baking

4. French Toast – serve with marmalade butter

5. Popovers – substitute a teaspoon of marmalade for blackcurrant jam in popovers, top with a blob of cream and dust with icing sugar

6. Chorizo con marmalade de Sevilla – top thick slices of chorizo with a little Seville orange marmalade to serve with drinks. Sounds revolting – tastes delicious

7. Marmalade tart – substitute marmalade for jam using a basic Bakewell tart recipe

8. Marmalade gravy – stir a couple of tablespoons of marmalade and some chopped parsley into a gravy to serve with roast mallard or teal

9. Marmalade Roulade – spread a layer of marmalade and some whipped cream over a meringue roulade and roll up. The bittersweet flavour cuts the sweetness of the meringue in a delicious way

10. Add a couple of tablespoons of chunky marmalade into a Citrus Fruit Salad.

› 2 lbs (900g) Seville Oranges (preferably organic)

› 4 pints (2.3L) water

› 1 lemon

› 4 lbs (1.8kg) granulated sugar