"Nevilles Seville" drabbles by Neville Hunt

Self-Preservation 5 (A waiting game)

Nevilles Seville #5

Once your marmalade is at ‘setting point’, put it in a large pan to keep until you’ve processed all batches (it’s easier to do it in two/three batches). Wait for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 120C and put in clean jamjars (as many as you’ll need). Keep the lids outside!

After 20 minutes, stir the still hot marmalade to distribute the peel evenly. Take the jamjars out of the oven (using oven gloves). Using a jug, fill the jars with hot marmalade to about a quarter inch from the top. Screw lids on the jars. Leave to cool.

Fabulous!

Self-Preservation 4 (Crinkle or not?)

Nevilles Seville #4

When you’ve reached a ‘rolling boil’ (...you might think you’ve reached a rolling boil, but unless it’s a truly homogeneous ‘mesh’ of tiny bubbles, you might not have!), it’s time for the ’crinkle test’.

Using a spoon, put a very small sample of the marmalade liquid onto a cool dry plate. Blow continuously across the surface of this sample for about a minute to cool it rapidly. Then push your fingernail gently through the liquid. When you’ve reached the ‘setting point” the surface will ‘crinkle’ ahead of your fingernail. Eureka! (But keep boiling and testing if there’s no clear ‘crinkle’!)

Self-Preservation 3 (Get rolling)

Nevilles Seville #3

When you’ve squeezed out all the pectin, add it to the larger pan (containing the peel) and stir thoroughly. Add all the sugar, stir until it has all dissolved.

Boil in batches in a wide pan (ideally a ‘preserving pan’ - with angled sides to stop it boiling over). A jam thermometer in the pan tells you when it’s getting close to the important ‘setting point’. However, you really need to get each batch to a ‘rolling boil’. The look of that rolling boil really matters! It should look like a homogenous ‘mesh’ of tiny bubbles.

Now for the crinkle test...

Self-Preservation 2 (The technique)

Nevilles Seville #2

Into a separate large pan put all the juice and the sliced peel (orange and lemon). Divide the water between the two pans, two thirds into the one with juice and peel.
Bring both pans to boil and simmer gently for 50 minutes

Leave to cool.

Using a nylon straining bag (or muslin), take the boiled pith/pip mush in small batches and squeeze as much thick juice (containing the important pectin) as you can into another pan. It’s messy... hands covered in juice, but keep going until the juice squeezing out maybe turns white. Put some real effort into it!

Self-preservation (Seville Orange Marmalade)

Nevilles Seville #1

INGREDIENTS AND PROPORTIONS:
Seville Oranges (whole) 1lb
Granulated sugar 2lbs
Water 2 pints
Lemon (whole) 1

METHOD:
Halve and juice the Seville oranges. There might not be much juice but try to get it all out. Scrape out as much pith/other material from each half orange shell as comes out easily leaving the peel intact. Put all the scraped out pith etc., including the pips, into a medium saucepan.
Similarly, juice the lemon and do the same.

Cut the orange peel shells in two again. Slice the peel into 1-2 inch long strips an eighth of an inch(ish) wide.