Citron Preserve, soul food from the heart

 (Loosely translated into English from my blogpost Siterkonfyt: Hartskos uit die hart uit)

Recently, I took a basket of fresh fruit from the garden to a friend down the road for her to use in preserve making. She makes the most delicious homemade preserves and jams which she then sells. After unpacking the basket of fruit in her kitchen, she returned to the sitting room with a jar of preserve asking, “Do you know what this is?”

I immediately recognised the soft green of the Citron Preserve. My heart skipped a beat as nostalgic memories of this exquisite preserve welled up. In South Africa, we have iconic preserves that are integral to our indigenous cultural and culinary traditions. Green figs, Wild Watermelon (Makataan) and Cucumis Anguria (Agurkie) to mention but a few.  

Citron Preserve is a delicacy on its own. I can distinctly recall, over a period of decades, when I ate it and who made it. I recall Jean Visser, who was married to the restoration architect Dirk Visser, and her serving her homemade Citron Preserve at the large yellowwood table in their home Vredenburg in Rosebank, Cape Town.

When my friend presented me with the jar of Citron Preserve with the words, “This is to say thank you from the bottom of my heart”, I immediately understood. Citron Preserve is only made for the love of it and its indulgent pleasure. Citron Preserve takes time. Some recipes require the thick peel to be steeped in water for four days.

Still Life with Bowl of Citrons, Giovanna Garzoni, Italy circa 1645, J. Paul Getty Museum

The Citron (Citrus medica) is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick peel. It is also one of the progenitors from which all citrus fruits evolved, through either natural or human intervention. It is therefore the forerunner of the citrus fruits we know today.

Photo of citrons in copper pot, Spys en Drank, Renata Coetzee, 1977

To prepare Citron Preserve is akin to bottling the history of the evolution of citrus. I researched the history of Citron Preserve-making in South Africa. The three earliest recipes I could find were clearly very familiar to the public when they were first published. It is most likely that they were already well known in the 1700’s or earlier, at the Cape.

Recipe from “Cape Cookery. Simple Yet Distinctive – Hewitt, A G, 1890”

“Citron Konfyt

The Citrons must not be ripe. Pare the Citrons and quarter them, using only the peel. Soak the pieces in fresh water every day for 3 days.

Boil them up in water, adding a large spoonful of salt to keep the colour. When taken out of the water squeeze them quite dry. Prepare the syrup, weight for weight, fruit and sugar, and boil all till clear.”

The recipe is short and sweet and not for beginners. Clearly, it was assumed that if you were going to tackle Citron Preserve, you were well versed in Preserves and would know instinctively how to proceed.

 Recipe from “Di Suid-Afrikaanse kook-, koek- en resepteboek – Dijkman, E J, 1891”

“Citron Preserve, No.1

Peel thinly and weigh off. Cut into four parts. Steep in cold water for two days replacing the cold water twice daily. On the third day place in boiling water and cook until soft. Place outdoors on a cloth to dry. Take as much sugar equal in weight to the Citrons. (Make the syrup equal parts water and sugar). Scoop and pour until sugar well dissolved. Add the Citrons and simmer until soft and clear. Bottle as for other preserves once well cooled."

Recipe from “Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper – Duckitt, H J, 1902”

“Mrs. Breda’s Citron Preserve. —Citrons preserved in the following way make a nice dish for dessert now that fresh fruits are scarce. It is Mrs. Breda’s recipe, and is best done in two days. To every half-dozen green citrons you will require their weight in sugar before scraping.

Pare or scrape the citrons, using a medium-sized grater, then lay them whole in a deep bowl, and after sprinkling 2 or 3 ozs. of salt over them, cover the citrons with a plate to keep them from rising, and pour into the bowl boiling water sufficient to cover the fruit.

The next day halve or quarter the citrons, taking out the pulp carefully (as this being bitter is never used), lay them in your copper preserving-pan, sprinkle a handful of salt over them, and cover them with cold water. Set the pan on the fire to boil till the fruit is soft enough to pierce with a reed or blunt skewer. Then take the pieces of citron out with a spoon, and put them into very cold water for half-an-hour, after which squeeze them as dry as you can without breaking. Now put your fruit into the preserving-pan and cover with sugar, same weight as the fruit, and measuring the sugar (after being weighed) with a cup, take in proportion 4 cups of water to 6 cups of sugar, let it melt and boil it up slowly, setting aside for next day when it should boil—say 4 or 5 hours—till clear and syrup nice and oily.

The citron preserve we make can be candied, but we keep it in jars in syrup, and drain it off a few days before we want to use it, roll it in dry sugar, and dry in a cool oven or on a cake-tray in the sun and air. We do the green figs in the same way.”

Mrs S van H Tulleken describes the Citron, or Citron preserve, in “Die Praktiese Kookboek vir Suid Afrika, 1922” as follows. “It is the most delicious and beautiful of all citrus preserves. Instead of yellow as for other citrus preserves, it is a beautiful green and as transparent as glass”. For me, this is a perfect description of Citron Preserve.

Mrs S van H Tulleken was a lecturer in Domestic Science. She was a judge at agricultural shows that also gave demonstrations. She was regularly awarded prizes at agricultural shows for her jams, cakes, tarts and preserves.

Anyone who may remember those agricultural shows will know just how competitive they could be. I become nostalgic when I think back to the agricultural shows of the town of Worcester in the Cape, and the produce on display in the great halls near the Kleinplasie outdoor museum. The halls were cathedrals of produce of the highest quality that the region could produce. Here it was all about quality, presentation and taste. Therefore, when Mrs S van H Tulleken describes Citron Preserve as the most delicious and beautiful of all citrus preserves and jams, it is by no means a lighthearted assessment.

To enjoy the green-coloured glassy preserve on a fresh slice of home-baked bread is the ultimate taste sensation. Real soul food from the heart.

Siterkonfyt, hartskos uit die hart uit