Following on from last week’s post The jam co-operative, here’s the promised 1929 recipe for Seville orange marmalade. Taken from The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Food, HMSO Bulletin 21: Home Preservation of Fruit & Vegetables. Tested, tweaked, tasted and approved by Mum Garcia.

Makes 10 jars

Ingredients

1.4 kg Seville oranges
4.5 – 6 pts water
2.7 kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid or tartaric acid. Or juice of 2 lemons

Method

Scrub, scald and peel the fruit.

Cut the peel into shreds, first removing some of the pith if thick. This is where we enlisted the ingenious Magimix shredder blade:

Put the shredded peel, acid and half the water in a jam pan (I use lemons and grate some peel into the pan too). Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 2 hours or until the peel is tender. Add more water if you think it’s needed.

Cut the rest of the fruit and pith coarsely. Simmer with the rest of the water in a closed pan for 1.5 hrs then strain through a colander. Alternatively, rub the pulp through a fine sieve for a very thick marmalade.

Add the strained pulp to the peel, bring to the boil and cook off excess water if necessary. Add the sugar, stir until dissolved then boil rapidly until setting point is reached. To test: Put a tsp full onto a plate and allow to cool slightly. If the jam wrinkles when you press gently with your finger, it’s ready.

Remove the scum from the top, allow the marmalade to cool slightly and pour into warm jars – cooling prevents the peel from rising in the jars.

Cover with waxed circles while still hot and tie down when cold. If using plastic or metal lids, sterilize by boiling for 5 mins first and screw on immediately.