Citron Preserve

With an abundant supply of fresh organic citrons, I could not wait to try my hand at traditional citron preserve. As usual, I consulted the earliest Cape cookbooks in the Towerwater library. I was tempted to use the recipe of Hildagonda Duckitt’s grandmother but decided instead to use a recipe that does not involve using an egg to clarify the preserve. Using eggs to clarify jam was just a bit advanced for me.

I decided to use the recipe in The South African Culinary Tradition by Renata Coetzee, published in 1977.

Citron preserve
The South African Culinary Tradition, Renata Coetzee, published in 1977

The fruit must be plump, but the peel must still be green.

Grate off the peel or peel the fruit very thinly and cut the citrons into quarters. Remove the flesh. Only the rinds are used for preserves. Soak rinds for two days in fresh water, replacing the water at least once.

Drain and plunge the citron pieces into boiling water. Cook until the rind is so soft that it can easily be pierced with a matchstick. Drain the citron pieces and press all the water out carefully.

Make a syrup of 500 g sugar for every 500 g fruit and use three to four cups (750 ml - 1 l) water for every 500 g sugar. Add three tablespoons (37,5 ml) lemon juice to every kilogram of fruit.

Place the citrons in the boiling syrup and boil rapidly until the fruit is translucent and the syrup thick and has the right heavy consistency. Skim off and pack the citron pieces neatly into sterilized jars. Fill with syrup and seal.

 

When I explored the history of citron preserve at the Cape, I discovered that it was used in several dishes in its candied and preserved form. It was used to flavour and decorate cakes, puddings and biscuits. I suppose that is why citron trees were commonplace in the agricultural landscape of both the rural and suburban Cape.

The recipes for citron preserve have been fairly consistent over the years with salt added to soaking water by Hildagonda Duckitt, and salt added to the first boiling process by A.G. Hewitt to preserve the green colour of the preserve.  

I include the recipes for citron preserve as recorded since 1890 by different historical cooks. The recipes are as found in the different cookbooks.

Citron  Konfyt
Cape Cookery Simple Yet Distinctive, A.G. Hewitt, published in 1890

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 green 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.

 

Image of Citron Preserve cooking from The South African Culinary Tradition by Renata Coetzee

Preserve (Citron)
Hilda’s “Where Is It “of Recipes, Hildagonda Duckitt, published in 1891

(From my Grandmother's Recipe Book. Dutch.)

Scrape the rind, cut in halves, take out the pulp, lay them in a basin of hot water to which a handful of salt was added; change the water the next day, then leave for two days longer in water; after that, boil them in clean water till soft enough to put a reed through. Press all the water out carefully, laying on a cloth to cool. For each pound of fruit take two of sugar; make a syrup of the sugar (one cup of water for a cup of sugar), clarify with an egg. Boil for two days on a slow fire. Keep well corked in glass bottles

Citron Konfyt
The Practical Cookery Book for South Africa, S.H. Van Tulleken, published in 1923

This is the most delicious and the prettiest of all citrus fruit konfyts, and instead of yielding a yellow konfyt, it is a beautiful green when done, and transparent like glass. Cut them in quarters or when the fruit is not too large in halves; they can also be cut in rings 1 inch thick, by cutting through the fruit and removing the pulp with a spoon, this is rather difficult, as the inside is pretty tough. Care should be taken to remove the pulp only, and not part of the peel as well. Before cutting the fruit as above, first peel very thinly, just cutting through the pores. The surface is very uneven, and it is rather a trouble to peel them nicely. Don't cut away the uneven, places—peel right over them, just cutting through the pores, and leaving the peel uneven. Now place the peel in cold water, only changing the water on the second day as for oranges. The fruit is very slightly bitter, and of such delicious flavour that it would the greatest pity to change the water too often. The object is to soak the peal. On the third day start early, and boil the peel in clean water till it can very easily be pierced with a little stick or straw – it should be very soft and transparent looking. Now weigh, allowing the same quantities of sugar and water as for oranges, also for thinning syrup. Proceed exactly as for orange konfyt.  (Use  insides scooped out for jelly); Close the bottles when konfyt is quite hot to prevent sugaring.

Citron  Konfyt

Old-Time Recipes, edited by E. Barnard, published in 1952

Citrons should be unripe and green in colour and are usually ready for preserving in March. Scrape the citrons with a piece of glass. Quarter them and take out the pulp. Lay them in basin of hot water to which a handful of salt has been added.

Next day change the water and leave for 3 days in fresh water every day, then boil in clean water until soft enough to pierce with a reed or a skewer. Squeeze the pieces dry and lay them on cloth to drain.  For 1 lb. of fruit take 2 lb. of sugar.  Make a syrup of 1 cup of water to 1 cup of sugar. Add the fruit and boil gently over a slow fire until clear. Bottle.

Other Citron Recipes

Candied Citron Peel
Cedrata - Citron Syrup

Cedrello - Citron Liqueur

Insalata Di Cedro - Citron Salad