WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU BITTER ORANGES--

 

Bitter oranges, blue sky.

I once lived in an old house in the pueblo with a big, overgrown garden behind it. Stone dry walls divided the sloping garden into terraces which were planted with trees—an olive, a fig, orange and lemon, peach, pear and apricot, plus a flamboyant pomegranate and an exotic chirimoya.  

Having never had an orange tree in my backyard before, I thrilled to its progress from fragrant bloom to small green nubbins to ripening oranges. When they looked sufficiently ripe, I picked one, peeled it and popped a section in my mouth. It was unbelievably sour! My tree apparently had never been grafted and made only bitter “marmalade” oranges. What to do with so many sour oranges? Make marmalade. I made so much that I put a sign on the front door and sold it to passers-by. My marmalade pesetas went a long way in 1967.

The bitter, bigarade or Seville orange (the peel is bitter, the juice is sour), called agria or cachorreña, is still grown ornamentally and is used as root stock for varieties of sweet oranges. I recently saw a news item that Sevilla, where the collection of rotting oranges on city streets is an annual problem, will start recycling the fruit to make bio-fuel to generate electricity. 

I have a bitter orange tree in the garden where I live now. The sweet orange graft a couple years ago didn’t take, so I’m gathering the bitter fruit to make a very traditional Málaga fish soup, sopa de cachorreñas (link to recipe below). I’m also using the sour juice  in some other ways—in an adobo marinade for turkey breast and in an olive oil mayonnaise to sauce the turkey and asparagus.

Turkey breast marinated in sour orange juice with asparagus and a salad of sweet clementines.

Blender mayonnaise with extra virgin olive oil and the juice of sour oranges.

Serve the orange mayo with asparagus and with the turkey.

Turkey Breast with Sour Orange Marinade

Pechuga de Pavo en Adobo con Naranja Agria

1 ½ - 2 pounds boneless turkey breast, in one piece

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon smoked pimentón (smoked paprika)

Pinch of pimentón picante (hot paprika)

3 tablespoons sour orange juice

½ teaspoon oregano

Sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil

Sour Orange Mayonnaise, to accompany (recipe follows)

Adobo marinade for turkey breast.

     Place the turkey in a non-reactive container. Sprinkle on all sides with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, two kinds of pimentón, orange juice, oregano, thyme and bay leaves. Pour the oil over the turkey. Cover the container and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, turning it once or twice. 

     Bring the turkey to room temperature before roasting.

     Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the turkey in an oven-safe roasting dish just big enough to hold it. Pour all the marinade over it. Roast the turkey 10 minutes. 

     Lower the oven temperature to 350ºF. Remove the turkey from the oven and baste it with juices in the pan. Return to the oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 145ºF., about 45 minutes longer. (Timing will depend on the thickness of the piece of turkey. Take care not to overcook it.)

If the turkey is to be served hot, let it rest 10 minutes before carving. If to be served cold, let the whole piece cool, then refrigerate it, covered. Place the chilled meat on a cutting board and slice thinly. 

Serve the turkey accompanied by Sour Orange Mayonnaise.

Sour Orange Mayonnaise

Mayonesa con Naranja Agria

This quantity of sour orange juice thins the mayonnaise, although it will firm up somewhat when chilled. If sour orange juice is not available, substitute lemon juice or vinegar or try vinegar with sweet orange juice. 

1 large egg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon smoked pimentón (smoked paprika)

½ teaspoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup sour orange juice

Place the egg in a blender container. Add the salt and pimentón. Add the oil. Run the blender until the egg and oil emulsify and thicken. If using an immersion blender, then move the wand up and down a few times to incorporate any oil that didn’t mix. Pour in the orange juice and blend again. 

Store the sauce, covered and refrigerated, up to 1 week. 

Mayonnaise with sour orange juice is the consistency of thick cream. For the garnish, blanch strips of orange zest in boiling water, then cut in thin julienne strips. Add a dash of pimentón for color.

The sour juice substitutes for lemon or vinegar in mayonnaise. It goes well with asparagus, artichokes, green beans, potatoes, fish, poultry. 

Orange Marmalade

Mermelada de Naranja

For making marmalade, save seeds which add pectin that helps the marmalade jell.

This is the traditional recipe I used for making orange marmalade. It’s a three-day procedure. You first weigh the fruit. For each kilo of oranges, allow one litre of water and one kilo of sugar. If you like a very bitter marmalade, use equal quantities of bitter, Seville oranges and sweet oranges, plus a couple of lemons. If you prefer a sweeter flavor, use a greater proportion of sweet oranges to bitter ones and only one lemon.

Day 1: Wash the oranges, weigh them and soak them in fresh water for several hours. Then shred, chop or finely slice them, catching all the juice and reserving the seeds in a separate bowl. Add enough water to cover the seeds and set them aside. Add the required quantity of water (1 litre per kilo of oranges) to the oranges. Cover and let them set for 24 hours.

Day 2: Cook the oranges very slowly until they are tender, about one hour. Cover and let set overnight.

Day 3: Add the sugar and let the oranges set for 6 hours. Put the seeds and their liquid (it will be quite gelatinous from the pectin) into a strainer and strain the liquid into the oranges. Bring the oranges to a boil and regulate the heat so they just bubble gently. Stir occasionally. (A heat-tamer pad under the pot helps prevent scorching.) The marmalade is done when a small quantity dropped on a cold surface does not run. Timing depends on the quantity of oranges being processed, but the jelling can easily take an hour. Pack while hot into sterile jars and seal.

More recipes with bitter oranges:

Fish Soup with Sour Orange.

Anchovies in Sour Orange Escabeche.

Beer-Battered Fish with Sour Orange Sauce.