today

Our local grocer sometimes stocks fruit from their friends' or neighbors' trees. These looked like a cross between an orange and a lemon, the boys behind the counter said they were awful, I thought they might be Seville oranges.

I have only seen Seville oranges a few times in organic stores, and the fruit has been more regular in shape, the skin has seemed smoother, the colour deeper. I asked Janet, who always knows the back-story behind what's in stock, and she said that some middle eastern people make jam with them but her family use them for salad dressings - they call them 'naranje' [guessing at the spelling here].  They were selling them for a song, so a bought two kilos.   I did some research and it turns out they are what I would call a Seville or bitter or marmalade orange, the flowers are used for making blossom water and the fruit for preserves.

I used the ever trustworthy St Benoît Three Day Marmalade recipe from Jane Grigson's Fruit Book, but with a little less sugar and some orange blossom water — & I now have some beautiful marmalade. The consistency is not jelly-like, it's looser and more voluptuous than other marmalade. Have been distributing it with some glee to friends. I owe Janet a jar.

One fruit is set aside for the seeds, I'll see whether I can grow a new tree.