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Oranges, Compote of
INGREDIENTS for dish for 6 persons.-1 pint of syrup, 6 oranges. AVERAGE COST, 9d.
Peel the oranges, remove as much of the white pith as possible, and divide them into small pieces without breaking the thin skin with which they are surrounded.
Make the syrup by recipe, adding the rind of the orange cut into thin narrow strips.
When the syrup has been well skimmed and is quite clear, put in the pieces of orange and simmer them for 5 minutes.
Take them out carefully with a spoon without breaking them, and arrange them COMPOTE OF ORANGES. on a glass dish. Reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly until thick; let it cool a little, pour it over the oranges, and, when cold, they ey will be ready for table.
TIME.-10 minutes to boil the syrup; 5 minutes to simmer the oranges; 5 minutes to reduce the syrup.
SEASONABLE from November to May.
A simple stovetop fruit compote that depends almost entirely on the syrup: the oranges themselves need barely any cooking.
- The syrupBeeton's standard fruit syrup is roughly 1 lb sugar to 1 pint water, boiled about 10 minutes and skimmed until clear. A pint here is 20 fl oz British measure, about 2 1/2 US cups.
- SegmentingDividing the fruit "without breaking the thin skin" means separating whole segments with their membranes intact, not suprêming them. The membrane is what holds each piece together through simmering and syruping.
- Five minutes is the maximumLonger and the segments collapse into shreds in the syrup. Keep the liquid at a bare tremble, not a boil, and lift the fruit out the moment the time is up.
- The rindPare the zest before peeling, in thin strips with no white pith, and blanch it once in plain water if you want the syrup less bitter. It goes into the syrup for flavour and stays there while the fruit cooks.
- ReducingFive minutes of hard boiling will take the syrup to a light coating consistency. Let it cool slightly before pouring, or the residual heat continues to cook the fruit on the dish.
- Cost and season9d. is the average cost the book gives for the finished dish, covering the oranges and the syrup. "Seasonable from November to May" corresponds to the months when imported oranges were on sale in Britain; blood oranges in midwinter give a good result.
- YieldSix oranges serve six as written, though as a dessert on its own it is closer to four. Serve cold, with cream or a plain sponge.
Compotes ried sugar syrup — fruit poached whole or in pieces in sugar syrup, as distinct from jam or preserve — came into English cookery from French practice, where the compote was one of the dishes served among the entremets. Beeton's household books contain a great many of them: they used fruit cheaply and needed no oven. Oranges were a winter luxury in Victorian Britain, available between late autumn and spring, which broadly matches the November-to-May window the recipe gives.