Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The Great Marmalade Challenge.

The Great Marmalade Challenge.

Ah! Marmalade, How Do I Love Thee?

For those of you in and around Brisbane who share my passion for marmalade - or who just want a fine morning out at a great farmers’ market – please come to the Moggill Market on Saturday (the 16th) for the judging of the great Marmalade Challenge.

I have written posts on marmalade several times in the past (here, here, here) which included recipes for this most special conserve, and in another post (Things to Do with Marmalade) I gave ideas for using it as an ingredient in other dishes. Luckily, the topic seems inexhaustible!

Here are a couple more interesting ideas for the last few spoonfuls of marmalade in the jar:

Tea à la Mitchell
Serve a spoonful of orange marmalade to each cup of hot tea.
On Uncle Sam’s Water Wagon: 500 recipes for delicious drinks, which can be made at home (New York, 1919.)

Orange Cheese-Cakes.
Ingredients:-
3 tablespoonfuls orange marmalade, 2 eggs, paste No. 403 made with 8 oz. flour, and other ingredients in proportion.
Method:-
Beat and strain the eggs, and add them to the marmalade, mixing very thoroughly. Butter some patty-pans, line them with the paste, rolled out thin; put some of the mixture in each, and bake in a moderately quick oven.
Time: - 15 to 20 minutes
Sufficient for 12 cheesecakes.
1200 Traditional English Recipes, by Ethel Meyer (1898)

‘Marmalade’, as we have found previously, used to refer to thick fruit conserves made from many other fruits including quince, damsons, and apples, but since 1981, the European Community regulations only allows the term to be used commercially for jam made from citrus. I don’t know what the percentage of citrus must be for the term to be used, so the first recipe below should qualify, and I hope the second one does too. The recipes are from Citrus fruits (Rural Science Series, New York, 1915).

Pomelo marmalade.
Slice one pomelo, one orange, and one lemon, rejecting seeds and core. Measure the fruit
and add to it twice the quantity of water. Let stand in an earthen dish over night and next day boil slowly until peel is tender. Let stand another night and the second morning measure and add an equal volume of sugar. Place in covered double boiler and boil slowly for a half hour or until it jellies. The fruit should not be stirred during boiling.

Citrus-rhubarb marmalade.

Take six pounds of fresh rhubarb, four large oranges, four lemons, and one large cup finely chopped walnuts. Cut the oranges and lemons into thin slices, rejecting ends and seeds. Add to the rhubarb, which has been cut into small pieces. Put four large cups of sugar over this and let stand over night. Next morning add four more cups of sugar and boil down. Just before placing in jars and while still hot stir in the chopped walnuts.

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