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To Preserve Citron
Mrs. W. Arthurs.
Pare the citrons and cut them into slices about an inch and a-half thick, then into strips the same thickness, leaving them the full length of the fruit; take out all the seeds with a small knife, then weigh, and to each pound of citron put a pound of white sugar, make a syrup; to ten pounds put a pint of water, and simmer gently for twenty minutes; then put in the citron and boil for one hour, or until tender; before taking off the fire put in two lemons, sliced thin, seeds taken out, and two ounces of root ginger; do not let them boil long after the lemon and ginger are put in; do not stir them while boiling. The above is very fine if carefully attended to.
A straightforward equal-weight fruit preserve, but two things need settling before you start: which citron is meant, and how little water the syrup actually gets.
- Which citronThis is almost certainly citron melon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides), the hard white-fleshed preserving melon common in 19th-century kitchen gardens, not the citrus fruit. The instructions to pare it, cut it into long thick strips, and dig the seeds out of the flesh with a knife only make sense for a melon. If you can find it, it is sometimes sold as preserving melon or pie melon; unripe watermelon rind behaves similarly.
- The water is barely waterA pint to ten pounds of sugar is about 3 tablespoons of water per pound — just enough to wet the sugar so it can melt without scorching. Use a heavy pan over low heat and do not walk away during the twenty-minute simmer. The melon itself supplies most of the liquid once it goes in.
- Scaling downAt one or two pounds the water quantity becomes unworkably small. Either make at least four or five pounds, or add water by feel — enough to dissolve the sugar to a clear syrup and no more.
- Do not stirThis is the hinge. Stirring breaks the long strips apart and drags undissolved sugar crystals up the pan sides, which can seed the whole batch into graininess. Shake or tilt the pan if you must move things; skim, but keep the spoon out.
- Root gingerTwo ounces of whole dried ginger root, bruised with the flat of a knife, or the same weight of fresh rhizome sliced. Fish the pieces out before potting unless you want the heat to keep building. Adding it late, as directed, keeps the flavour bright rather than woody.
- Judging donenessAn hour is a guide. The strips are ready when they turn from opaque white to translucent all the way through and a strip lifted out holds its shape. The syrup should be at roughly 220F, thick enough to sheet off a spoon.
- Lemon at the endSliced lemon boiled a long time in heavy syrup turns bitter from the pith and falls apart. Two or three minutes after it goes in is enough to set the acidity and gloss.
- Yield and keepingExpect at least a pint of packed fruit and syrup per pound of melon. The original gives no sealing method; preserves of this kind were commonly put up in crocks or jars covered with paper. It is a high-sugar preserve, but for shelf storage follow a current tested water-bath procedure for sweet preserves; otherwise refrigerate and use within a few weeks.
The Home Cook Book (Toronto, 1877) was compiled from recipes contributed by named local women — Mrs. W. Arthurs here — with proceeds going to the Hospital for Sick Children, and it is generally credited as the first Canadian fundraising cookbook of its kind, modelled on American ladies'-aid collections. Citron preserves belong to the older logic of the kitchen garden: the citron melon is nearly tasteless and rock-firm on its own, which is exactly what recommended it, since it holds its shape through an hour of boiling and takes on whatever ginger, lemon or spice you give it. Cooks kept the sugar at a full pound to the pound of fruit because sugar was the preservative, not merely the sweetener, and a preserve at that strength would sit in a crock through the winter. The same melon shows up in period books as mock citron for cakes, which is where the lasting confusion with candied citrus peel comes from.