MARMALADE MARVELS
Make one of Diana Henry’s new warming dishes using this bittersweet preserve, including a stunning Christmas ham with a festive ginger and star anise glaze
Diana Henry cooks with this versatile ingredient
The marmalade that used to feature on our breakfast table looked severe. It was a dark burnt amber, almost the colour of tawny port. The label was an illustration of an old kitchen with marmalade being made in an ancient pot suspended over a hearth. Grown-ups ate this stuff, not children. In fact, I didn’t take to marmalade until I wrote a book about preserving. I went for a marmalade making masterclass with the owners of London deli Melrose and Morgan, and began to fall in love with the stuff. It was similar to the experience of acquiring a taste for wine. All I’d needed was exposure to different types. I started with their breakfast marmalade (a bright, light one that included grapefruit) and was completely won over. Despite being a reluctant eater of marmalade on toast, it’s long been one of my favourite ingredients. I always have a jar in the cupboard to incorporate into puddings, duck and pork recipes and to slather over baked ham. It’s both sweet and bitter, so the cook has a jarful of contrasting flavours to start with, and cooks love contrast.
The dish I’ve used marmalade for most is bread and butter pudding. Slices of white bread rolls are layered with marmalade and dried fruit soaked in whisky. It’s chocolate, though, that is marmalade’s most obvious partner. The marmalade cream on page 100 is one I serve, not just with chocolate pudding, but with rich, dark chocolate cakes. Add a drop of orange flower water to this cream and it’s perfect with Middle Eastern cakes – especially those rich with almonds – and with baked stone fruits and baked apples. I’ve also churned it into a floral ice cream.
At its simplest, marmalade makes a great glaze, and not just for ham. Mix it with garlic, ginger, chilli and orange juice to marinade chicken thighs before roasting. It’s a hot, sticky simple supper. The thing to be aware of when using it this way is that marmalade burns easily. I usually roast thighs at 190C for 45 minutes, but if you’re using marmalade, it’s better to cook them at a lower temperature for longer, and to keep an eye on them (covering the dish with foil helps). What kind of marmalade is best for cooking? Well, you can go for a pale or a dark one depending on the effect you want, but you shouldn’t use your best homemade stuff. When you heat it and mix it with other ingredients, the nuances in the best marmalades are lost. You also need to think about texture. I’m sure other brands are available, but
I often use Bonne Maman Bitter Orange Fine Shred as it’s soft-set, so easy to mix with other ingredients. Firm-set marmalades need to be melted over a low heat (with a little water) to soften them.
If you only have marmalade on your breakfast table, you’re missing a trick. Marmalade isn’t just for toast.