Brave new marmalade

SIR – After 50 years of buying and processing Seville oranges every January (Letters, January 16), my wife has now changed the way she makes our marmalade.

After saving the skins and pith of three ruby grapefruits that we enjoy for breakfast, she adds the skins of a lemon and a satsuma and boils until soft, removes the pith and cuts up the skins in the usual way. The pith mixture is reboiled then sieved off, and the liquid and skins are lightly boiled with sufficient sugar until the mixture thickens and sets. This makes around 3lbs of beautifully clear three-fruit marmalade, which will last us a month or so. It’s a cheap and tasty alternative to using traditional Sevilles.

You can, of course, add a nip of whisky to taste.

Andrew Read Brixham, Devon

SIR – I have loved marmalade all my life. I loved Robertson’s silver and golden shred (treats on holiday), my mother’s homemade from her grandmother’s recipe, Oxford thick cut and thin cut, grapefruit, ginger, kumquat, apple – you name it.

However, I’ve just been given a jar of homemade blood-orange marmalade. Forget Seville – this is simply the best.

Patrick White London SW20