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This recipe for Marmalade comes from Rosa Jackson who as just part of her busy life runs cooking courses in the south of France - www.petitsfarcis.com

Rosa grew up in a Canadian prairie city known for its giant mall. When her family moved to Paris for two years while she was growing up, she discovered patisseries and never looked back. Her early efforts at making croissants and eclairs were total flops but that didn't stop her. At 26 she left her job as a food writer at a daily Canadian newspaper and moved to Paris. After ten years in Paris, where she wrote about restaurants for a number of guidebooks and magazines and founded the company Edible Paris, she now spends most of her time in Nice where she teaches Provençal cooking in her home. She spends a few days every month in Paris keeping up with restaurants, conducting food tours, and sampling the finest patisseries and chocolates. With a charming French husband and food-loving young son, she considers her life just about perfect.

Ingredients for Marmalade

12 to 13 Seville oranges (bitter oranges)
1 sweet orange
2 lemons
2.5 to 3 litres water, enough to cover the fruit
2 1/2 to 4 kg of sugar, depending on the size of your oranges

How to make Marmalade

• Slice the oranges and lemons in half lengthwise, then into thin horizontal slices, removing the pips as you slice and placing them in a bowl.

• Place the orange and lemon slices in the biggest bowl you can find (or two bowls) and cover them with water (I use filtered water). Cover with a plate and set aside in a cool place overnight. Cover the pips with water and set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.

• The next day, pour the fruit and its water (but not the pip water) into a large saucepan or copper jam basin. Bring to a boil and let the mixture bubble at a steady boil for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let this mixture cool, then weigh it and return it to a cool place to rest overnight. You will need the same weight in sugar, so now is the time to buy it!

• The next day, place the fruit with its water, the strained pip water and an equal weight of sugar in a large saucepan or jam basin. Bring to a boil, then let it boil steadily for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the syrup thickens slightly. To test the marmalade, pour a little onto a small plate that you have chilled in the freezer, then wait a minute. Tilt the plate and if the syrup wrinkles, it's time to transfer the marmalade to jars.

• Meanwhile, you will have sterilized your jars. I wash mine well in soapy water, rinse them and place in an 180°C oven to dry for at least 20 minutes. It's not the most orthodox method, but it's easy and has never failed me yet.

• Fill the jars nearly to the top and close the lids as soon as you can. The marmalade could keep for years or perhaps days, depending on how many marmalade lovers you know.

Makes about 12 jars

Rosa Jackson
www.petitsfarcis.com

Published with permission of Orce Serrano Hams