The Seville orange and its respective marmalade

I am attempting to make Seville marmalade for the second time. Only this time I am fortunate enough to have found myself in possession of Seville oranges – which can only be an advantage.

A few hours of therapeutic orange slicing activity later my large saucepan was filled with the juice and rind of a score’s worth of beautifully bitter Seville oranges. As the simmering process commenced, my kitchen filled with the gorgeous comforting, yet uplifting aroma of the bitter oils. 

Unlike when making jam, there is no need to add pectin, or lemon juice, to help with the setting process when making marmalade. Pectin is a occurs naturally in fruit, providing it with structure and firmness, which is similar to the way in which collagen keeps our skin firm and pump. So a ripe, firm, crunchy apple is high in pectin, while softer fruits such as strawberries have a lower pectin content. Seville oranges are plentiful in pectin, and during the marmalade making process, the combining of sugar and water and citric acid (freely available from the orange juices) stimulate the activity of pectin so that a gel forms.