Each January the Melrose and Morgan kitchen gets engulfed in a fog of orange scented fumes – which can only mean one thing – the Seville’s are in and our annual marmalade making has started.

Seville oranges are with for us such a short time, their season being only December to February, that a particular frenzy is attached to their arrival. Huge pans come crashing out of their hiding places and a certain reverence is placed over the careful peeling and juicing of the fruit that follows.

These smaller, harder oranges are definitely not ‘eaters’, but their sourness and complex bitterness lends itself wonderfully to preserving, and their juice makes a very interesting addition to salad dressings and marinades.

Of course the classic recipe for this fruit is marmalade. There are lots of recipes that you can follow - I was taught by Pam Corbin on a day course at River Cottage a few years ago and I can certainly recommend her recipe as a starting point. The recipe is available from The River Cottage Preserve Book.

If you take to marmalade making - warning, it can become addictive - as you make more marmalades from year to year you will come up with your own twist on this recipe to make it unique to you and you will discover your own set of rules that will improve your final product.

Some of the rules that I apply to my own preserving are; buy the best quality fruit you can find at the peak of its season; scrub your fruit before cooking – you will have a clearer jam; use different types of sugar to give depth of flavour; shred your fruit finely – it helps to release more pectin; don’t stir the jam while it’s cooking – you will interrupt the set; taste the jam when you have a set and season with lemon juice to lift the flavour if needed.

Our Seville Orange and Good Morning Marmalade are both available from our Hampstead and Primrose Hill shops as well as our online shop.