WHAT TO DO WITH BITTER ORANGES

 

Bitter orange tree in my garden.

Sure, you could make marmalade. But, not if  you’re the city of Sevilla, where ornamental bitter oranges are emblematic. Sevilla has some 50,000 urban orange trees, creating a major headache for the crews which, during January and February, must pick the fruit before it rots and falls. The oranges on city streets cannot be used for making commercial marmalade because the leaves and skin of the fruit absorb contaminants. 

A pilot project started in Sevilla in 2020 uses street oranges to make juice, which, in fermenting, creates methane that can be converted into biofuel to generate electricity to power the city’s residual water treatment plants. So far, this accounts for only about 3.5 percent of the fruit collected. With funding, the project may continue to expand. Another 7.7 percent of oranges goes to dumps where some become compost. The lion’s share—88.8 percent—is used for industrial purposes such as the distillation of essential oils and to manufacture livestock feed. (These figures are from an article in Diario de Sevilla.)

These oranges, native to China, were first planted in Spain by the Romans. But it was the Moors (Arabs) who extended the plantings widely. The essential oils were used medicinally and as a fragrance. The naranja amarga, known in English as the “Seville orange,” is not actually bitter. The peel is bitter, the juice is sour. Really sour. As mouth-puckeringly tart as lemons. 

Sour oranges can be used in any way you use lemons. Squeeze some on vegetables (brilliant with artichokes and asparagus); on fried fish, in salads. The juice makes a terrific vinaigrette. Or, use it to make a classic orange sauce as in Duck a l'Orange. Biofuel, anybody?

A variation on classic Duck a l'Orange, here made with duck breast. The sauce is made with the juice of sour oranges.

Coleslaw with a difference--shredded cabbage, fennel and carrots are mixed with pieces of sweet orange and dressed with a sour orange vinaigrette.

The same vinaigrette used for the coleslaw is poured over roast salmon. The vinaigrette is made with equal parts sour orange juice and extra virgin olive oil, a half-teaspoon of sesame oil, grated ginger, grated (sweet) orange zest, and chile paste to taste. 

Roast fillet of salmon with a side of slaw, both dressed with sour orange vinaigrette and speckled with black sesame.

Sour orange sponge pudding, baked in oven-proof cups.

Duck Breast a l’Orange

Magret de Pato a la Naranja

Classic French Duck a l’Orange is actually Canard au Bigarade—duck with a sauce made with sour oranges—not, a la Julia Child, with sweet oranges. Bigarade is the Provençal name for the Seville bitter orange. So tangy is the sauce that it really needs the addition of caramel, which both deepens the color of the sauce and sweetens it.

Although the classic recipe calls for roast duck, I’m making a version using magret, boneless duck breast, that cooks in minutes. 

Starting point for the orange sauce is a deeply flavored brown stock. Make it with beef bones or pieces of duck carcass that have been browned in the oven. Add aromatics and herbs and canned tomatoes for depth of color. Take care not to add too much salt, as the stock is going to be reduced, which concentrates the salt.

You can make caramel (melt sugar until dark brown, dissolve it in some water or vinegar to make it  sauce consistency) or, as I chose to do, use store-bought bottled liquid caramel (look for it on the shelves with the baking and pudding ingredients). 

Sour oranges for juicing.

Makes enough orange sauce for 3 duck breasts or 1 whole roast duck.

1 orange (bitter or sweet)

1 ½ cups brown stock (beef and/or duck)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 ½ cups sour orange juice, strained

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons liquid caramel

2 tablespoons rendered duck fat or butter

Duck breasts, each about 14 ounces

Sweet orange segments to garnish (optional)

Use a vegetable peeler or zester to remove the zest from the orange without any white pith . Cut the zest into julienne slivers. Blanch the zest in boiling water 1 minute and drain. Return the zest to the pan with fresh water, bring again to a boil. Cook sweet orange zest 4 minutes and drain. If using bitter orange peel, cook it 10 minutes. Drain well. Pat dry and reserve the slivered zest.

Place ¼ cup of the stock in a small bowl with the cornstarch. Stir to blend. Combine the remaining stock and sour orange juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half (about 20 minutes). Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and whisk in the liquid caramel. (Sauce can be made in advance. Reheat when duck is ready to serve.) Before serving, whisk duck fat or butter into the hot sauce.

Score the fat of the duck breast.

For the duck breast: Use a sharp knife to score the fatty side of the duck breast in a diagonal cross-hatch, without cutting into the flesh. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Heat a heavy skillet on medium heat. Brown the duck breast, fat side down, until fat is crisped and browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Very carefully drain off excess fat. Turn the duck breast and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the breast on end to brown the edges. The duck should be browned on the outside and rare in the center.

Remove to a cutting board and allow it to stand 10 minutes. Slice crosswise into ½-inch slices. Arrange slices on a platter or individual plates. Spoon some of the sauce over the duck. Sprinkle with the strips of zest. Garnish, if desired, with sweet orange segments. 

Tangy orange sauce complements the rich and fatty duck breast. The segments used as garnish are sweet orange.

Duck breast is usually served rare. Strips of blanched orange zest garnish the duck.

Sour Orange Sponge Pudding

Flan Bizcochado de Naranja Amarga

This is based on an old favorite dessert recipe, Lemon Sponge Pudding (in The Joy of Cooking by Rombauer and Becker). I like it tart! I’ve used less sugar than called for in the original recipe, even though I have substituted sour orange juice for sweet. 

Serves 4.

½ cup sugar

1 ½ tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon grated zest from a sweet orange

2 large eggs, separated

3 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup sour orange juice

1 cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add the zest. Beat in the egg yolks. Beat in the orange juice. Add the flour and milk.

Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter. 

Grease 4 custard cups or oven-proof pudding bowls. Set them in a pan with 1 inch of hot water. Ladle the batter into the cups. Bake until the pudding is set, 40 minutes.  Serve the puddings in the custard cups in which they baked.

More recipes using bitter oranges:

Turkey Breast with Sour Orange Marinade.

Bitter Orange Marmalade.

Beer-Battered Fish with Sour Orange Sauce.

Fish Soup with Sour Orange (Cachorreñas).

Anchovies in Bitter Orange Escabeche.

Artichoke and Orange Salad.

Sour Orange Mayonnaise.