Marmalade season has been again. I spent January chopping, boiling, putting into jars and labelling over 50kg of oranges! This picture clearly shows how marmalade oranges, also known as Seville oranges or bitter oranges have a different appearance to the more common sweet vatiety that we are all so familiar with. Sweet oranges are available all year round whereas marmalade oranges are only available for one week in January - or should that be Jamuary? I guess I missed a trick there!
Last year I met a lady at a craft fair who actually comes from Seville in Spain. She did not know that we use their bitter oranges to make our marmalade - she thought they were all discarded as inedible! That would be a tragedy in my opinion.
This year I am making Whisky Marmalade in addition to the Seville Orange Marmalade, using local Malt Whiskies from this area. There are so many to chose from, but I have narrowed it down to six, from Islay, Jura, Oban and Fort William.
I now have a busy timetable of craft fairs and farmers' markets to look forward to. In addition I have a new shop in Lochgilphead I am supplying and another slightly further away that has expressed an interest. The little stall in my garden, with the honesty box has a steady flow of customers too.
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