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To Preserve Oranges

A method for preserving bitter oranges in a sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Bitter orange and sugar work together. They rank in the top 41% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14 recipes. The science ↓

To Preserve Oranges

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rinds

  1. Cut the rinds of the oranges into leaf shapes and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon.

  2. Soak the rinds in cold water mixed with salt for 2 days, changing the water frequently.

  3. Boil the rinds in fresh cold water until they are tender enough to pierce with a pin.

Candy the rinds

  1. Clarify the sugar, using 1 pound for each orange.

  2. Place the rinds in a potting can or flat vessel.

  3. Pour the syrup over the rinds.

  4. Let the rinds sit overnight.

  5. Pour off the syrup.

  6. Boil the syrup.

  7. Repeat this process 4 times.

  8. Add the strained juice of 4 bitter oranges and the rinds.

  9. Boil for 8 minutes.

Jar

  1. Carefully place the rinds into jars.

  2. Pour the syrup over them to cover completely.

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. Bitter orange + sugartop 41% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Bitter oranges
Their rinds provide the bitter flavour and the firm, chewy texture once candied.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the rinds and firms them during the soaking that removes bitterness.
Sugar
Preserves the rinds and gives them sweetness as the syrup slowly penetrates them.

The step that matters

Boiling the rinds until tender. Rinds must be pierced easily before candying; if undercooked they stay tough, and if overcooked they fall apart in the syrup.

“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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