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Chewy Bits Add Appeal To Citrusy Marmalade

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By JEFF HOUCK, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

Last week, we printed a request from an unidentified caller who asked for a sour orange marmalade recipe.

"My grandmother, Matilda Caffee, was born in Bermuda in 1877, learned to make sour orange marmalade there and brought the recipe when she moved to Florida in the 1920s," writes Ann Sargent of Lakeland.

"I can remember being in her kitchen when she was making it, and a few years ago started making it myself from her recipe," she writes. "Like all old recipes, it's not very precise in measures, but this is the best marmalade I've ever tasted. I like the big chewy bits of peel in this. I add it as a 'secret ingredient' in chili and spaghetti sauce for raves from guests."

She says that the recipe works equally well for grapefruit. A note on the original recipe says it can be used for kumquat as well, "except you probably wouldn't core them."

Recipe Requests

"We are looking for a recipe for a sandwich spread similar to the one they make at Pettis' Grocery in Bloomingburg, Ohio," Barbara Mahler of Avon Park writes. "We always buy it when in the area, but it's a long drive to get back to Florida for dinner! Can anyone help us out?"

More Goody Goody

Irene Puleo Fernandez, who says she is "Tampa home-grown," read last week's column with the hamburger sauce recipe.

"Being a native Tampanian, I grew up dining at the Goody Goody every Friday evening," Fernandez writes. "My favorite pie was their apple pie. That was absolutely the best crust, and their apples were cooked to perfection. To let you know, I was never so fond of apple pie until I ate theirs. It has actually spoiled me for any other."

Fernandez is hoping someone has the pie recipe.

"Please, please, please," she says. "I would love to have it if any of your readers know it. My mouth is watering already."

Special Offer

The Wilderness Wildcats Relay for Life team in Land O' Lakes, with help from Wilderness Lake Preserve, created a community cookbook, "Recipes for Life."

The cookbook is filled with nature photographs by Jason Hahn and features more than 240 recipes donated by the many cooks in Wilderness Lake Preserve.

Copies cost $15 each or $25 for two. Profits benefit the American Cancer Society.

The "Recipes for Life" cookbooks can be purchased at the Wilderness Lodge. For information, call (813) 995-2437.

MATILDA CAFFEE'S MARMALADE (Grapefruit or Sour Orange)

2 thick-skinned grapefruit or 5 sour oranges

Scrub fruit, then scrape, grate or peel any blemishes from skin. Cut in half, core and remove seeds, saving all juice and pulp.

Slice peel in very thin strips, cover with water, and let stand overnight. Cover seeds and cores with water also, and next morning, boil until cores are tender. Strain off the water, adding it to peel, juice and pulp.

Boil peel and pulp until peel will mash with a wooden spoon. Let stand overnight, measure or weigh, then bring to a boil and add an equal quantity of granulated sugar.

Boil until syrup jellies; at about 220 degrees. Pour into sterile glasses or jars, and let ripen a week or so before using.

Note: When using a thermometer, let it boil at 220 degrees for a short time, but if it goes higher, the peel gets tough and hard. If you have no thermometer, test by putting a little on a dish to cool, and when it wrinkles instead of runs, it is done.

Note from Ann Sargent: I found that if I added all the juice to the marmalade, the taste was too strong and sour. So I add a bit but save most of it to use as a meat tenderizer/marinade. I even made a Sour Orange Meringue Pie with it, substituting it for lemon juice.

Looking for a recipe? Have one to share? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa FL 33601, or jhouck@tampatrib.com. Recipes are not tested.

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