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Orange-Peel, Syrup of, for Flavouring
Take two ounces of the thin yellow rind of Seville oranges entirely free from the white part. Put it into a jar, and pour over it a pint of boiling water, cover closely, and leave it until the next day. Filter the liqueur through blotting-paper, put it into an enamelled saucepan, and with it a pound and a half of loaf sugar. Let it heat very gently over a slow fire until the sugar is dissolved, then bottle, cork closely, and store for use. Probable cost of oranges, 1d. each. Sufficient for a quart of syrup.
A cold-infusion flavouring syrup: the aromatic oils in bitter orange zest are drawn out by water rather than driven off by boiling. Everything in the method exists to protect them.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe syrup is heated only until the sugar dissolves, over the lowest heat. Bringing it to a boil drives off the volatile orange oils and leaves you with sugar water carrying a faint marmalade note.
- Seville orangesThe bitter Seville is a seasonal fruit, on sale in Britain for a few weeks in January and February; it is less widely stocked elsewhere. Out of season, the zest of ordinary oranges with one or two lemons is sometimes suggested as a stand-in, though it lacks the resinous edge.
- How much peelTwo ounces (about 55 g) of pared rind is the zest of perhaps half a dozen oranges, depending on their size and how thinly you pare. Pare with a swivel peeler or sharp knife and check each strip: the recipe insists the rind be entirely free of the white pith.
- MeasuresAn imperial pint is 20 fl oz, about 570 ml; a pound and a half of sugar is about 680 g. The finished quart is roughly 1.1 litres. If working from US measures, use 570 ml of water rather than 16 fl oz or the syrup will be over-sweet.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was refined white sugar sold in a hard cone and broken up as needed, prized because it was clean and free of molasses. Modern refined white granulated sugar is the nearest equivalent.
- FilteringBlotting-paper was used as a filter in the period, as the recipe directs. A paper coffee filter or two layers of damp muslin will do the same job; expect it to run slowly.
- Enamelled saucepanSpecified because bare copper and iron react with the acid of citrus and can taint or discolour the syrup. Stainless steel or a modern enamelled pan is fine; unlined copper is not.
- Keeping itBecause the syrup is never boiled it is not sterilised, and at this sugar concentration it is only borderline self-preserving. Bottle it in scalded bottles, refrigerate, and use within a month or two; discard at the first sign of cloudiness or mould.
- Using itA tablespoon or two flavours a rice pudding, a batter, a fruit salad or a sponge soaking syrup, and it makes a good base for a soda or a punch.
Bitter oranges reached Europe long before sweet ones, and by the eighteenth century the fruit shipped from Seville was a standard flavouring citrus of the English kitchen: too sour to eat, but valued for the aromatic oil held in its rind. The cold overnight infusion is the older, gentler technique, distinct from the alcohol tinctures used by commercial essence makers, and homemade flavourings of this kind became less common as branded essences grew cheap. The costing note, a penny an orange, is a reminder of how routinely these books priced a dish for a housekeeper working to a weekly budget.