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To Preserve Oranges

A method for preserving Seville oranges in a sugar syrup and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,706 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

To Preserve Oranges

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oranges

  1. Cut a piece off the top of each orange, about the size of a shilling.

  2. Carefully remove the inside of the oranges without cutting too close to the skin.

  3. Soak the oranges in a pot of saltwater overnight.

  4. Boil the oranges in a large tin saucepan wrapped in linen cloths for three hours.

Make the syrup and preserve

  1. In another pot, boil 2 pounds of sugar with 3 cups of water until thick.

  2. Add 3 or 4 boiled oranges to the syrup.

  3. Cook for 10 minutes, turning them with a spoon until they look clear.

  4. Place the oranges in separate jars.

  5. Boil the syrup again, skimming it well.

  6. Once cooled, pour the syrup over the oranges.

  7. Cover with brandy papers.

  8. Tie them securely with leather or bladder.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Seville oranges
Provide the fruit that is candied and preserved in the syrup.
Lump sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, boiled to a thick syrup, preserves it and makes it clear.

The step that matters

Boiling the oranges until clear. Oranges must be boiled until the peel is fully softened before sugaring. Undercooked peel stays bitter and tough, and the syrup cannot penetrate it well, so the fruit will not turn clear or keep properly.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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