1. Background Info

There is a huge difference between real Oxford Marmalade of the kind I make at home and the standard product sold in the shops. The real Oxford Marmalade is very dark, sweet, bitter and packed with delicious thick-cut slices of Seville orange - a kind of bitter, thick-skinned orange grown specially for making marmalade.

It is made with equal weights of fresh orange and sugar, and contains no chemical additives or added pectin, since all the pectin it needs to set is released from the orange pips as they are boiled. The result is a marmalade that is absolutely bursting with flavour - a real sensory experience.

By contrast, the commercially available Oxford Marmalade product is made with only 40 grams of fruit per hundred grams of finished product, compared to 68 grams of sugar.

Because it has so little orange they need to bulk out the product by adding extra pectin - without which it would probably never even set.

The low fruit content also means they have to add citric acid to boost the acidity (more exacting marmalade makers would do this with lemon juice, if necessary). And to make it look dark, they add caramel colouring.

The resulting product is quite good when compared to other brands of marmalade. It is reasonably bitter, for example, as it is made with genuine Seville oranges. But compared to my own marmalade it is over-sweet, lacks depth and strength of flavour, and is overall not very satisfying.

2. Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 pounds of Seville oranges.
• A piece of root ginger (optional) - up to half a pound.
• Various bits of old fruit - apples, bananas, lemons, grapefruit etc - which you have lying around the house and need to be eaten up - no more than a pound or two unless you want it to significantly influence the taste.
• The same weight of sugar that you have of fruit - brown sugar or demerara is best but white does the job just fine.
• Half a pint of water.

Materials

• A large cooking pot with a thick bottom for cooking it up in.
• Sufficient clean, empty jam jars with sealing tops to put it all in - just add up the weight of all the ingredients, and use that as a guide for the number of jars you will need (ie, for 22lb weight have 22 one pound jars).
• A long wooden spoon for stirring.
• A large wooden chopping board.
• A sharp kitchen knife and fork.
• A ladle or large spoon for pouring the hot marmalade into pots.

1. Wash the fruit in water.
2. Cut the oranges and any other citrus fruit into quarters.
3. Place them in the cooking pot.
4. Add the half pint of water.
5. Place on the stove with lid on, and apply heat.
6. Once it is warmed up, add the first 2 pounds of sugar to draw the moisture out of the oranges.
7. Cook for gently for 30 minutes, giving an occasional stir.
8. Allow to cool down.
9. Remove the orange quarters one by one, using the fork to hold them on the chopping board while you cut them into slices 0.1 to 0.3 inches thick (according to preference). You may have to transfer the cut slices to a temporary container from time to time.
10. You will notice a great many pips. They are necessary as they provide the pectin to make the marmalade set, and they also provide much the the bitter taste that makes Oxford Marmalade so special. They are also very fiddly to take out, So I just leave them in. But others remove them at this stage and put them into a sealed muslin bag before adding back to the mix.
11. Put the sliced oranges and pips back into the pot and heat up once again.
12. As the mix heats up, add the rest of the sugar.

13. Also add any other bits and pieces - finely chopped ginger, chopped up bits of apple, banana, pear etc, which will completely disappear.
14. Bring it all to a gentle boil, stirring frequently right down to the bottom of the pot to prevent burning.
15. This may go on for several hours until the marmalade is ready. You will know when it is done because it goes a beautiful dark brown colour, and the bits of orange pith will turn from opaque to translucent.
16. To make sure it's done, splash a bit of the marmalade onto a cold plate, leave for a few minutes and see if it sets. If it doesn't, carry on a little longer.
17. When ready, turn off the heat and ladle the mix into the jam jars. Screw down the tops immediately each jar is full (leaving just a small air gap) and stack up all the full jars together.
18. Wipe any spilt marmalade off the sides of the jars using a damp cloth.
19. Try some of the marmalade yourself - thickly spread on hot toast.
20. Allow the jars to cool overnight.
21. Put labels on the jars to make sure you will know which year you made the marmalade and what ingredients you used.
22. Put them away in a cool, dark, dry, safe place.
23. Enjoy - and share with your friends and family.

Thanks, Oliver Tickell, Oxford, England.