Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Angela - I have probably got this wrong, but I thought that pineapple was one of those fruits (like Kiwi fruit) that contains an enzyme which prevents jelly from setting, so I don't see how it would work in marmalade!

Fjgrogan wrote:Angela - I have probably got this wrong, but I thought that pineapple was one of those fruits (like Kiwi fruit) that contains an enzyme which prevents jelly from setting, so I don't see how it would work in marmalade!

The recipe calls for five limes to two pineapples but I haven't tried it. Perhaps the boiling breaks down that enzyme as heat does with other enzymes. As always, recipes are simply a guide and some recipes are simply downright wrong - the individual chef then takes the outline and adapts it to his or her taste, skills, equipment, needs etc. One book I follow has the comment that amounts can be doubled or halved to taste - and Bocuse also points out that in his recipes Fernand Point gives no quantities at all - we are spoiled for guidance! Any chef will tell you that a new dish needs several attempts before it comes out "right"; you just need to hear Heston Blumenthal on that subject!
BTW - it is not unknown for me to help the setting with just a touch of gelatine (but don't tell anyone!)

In German --- Marmelade merely means Jam --- We may not like Europeans -- but a Hell of a lot of our Language and Customs come from them --- The trick is to be selective.

My Forte (French !) is Apple Jelly, flavoured with Root Ginger, and clear as Crystal !
(I have 7 Apple trees -- what else to do when you have made Wine , Crumble, Frozen Hunks -- and fed the starving Neighbours on the Estate ?) I also have two large Victoria Plum Trees---- Oh Bliss ! -- But the Fructose plays havoc with the Blood Sugar of Anne and myself, as do the Greenhouse Black Hamburg Grapes ------ I shall die Happy !

I have a neighbour who regularly presents me with bags of winfall apples, usualy maggot-ridden,but when usable I too make an apple jelly with ginger, but towards the end of the final boiling I add chopped crystalised ginger-heaven on a plate (not,I fear for you or your good lady, Neill)

I don't know if this is slightly "Off Topic" but being Parsimonious in the extreme, I have discovered a way of controlling Codlin Moth on Apple Trees (Little blighters who make holes into the core and hide there !)
Instead of using Grease Bands (Expensive and messy) use ordinary Engine grease and apply with a spatula when the Commandant isn't looking, and wash well afterwards.
I started this some years ago, when the Government --- at the instigation of the RSPB, banned Grease Bands, on the "Danger of small birds becoming attached to them "------ I ask you !
Any bird which manages to get itself attached to a Grease Band is so stupid, it is unlikely to survive --- on the basis of Darwin's Natural Selection !
Grease Bands have now been re-instated but are less sticky ---but more expensive --- now who's idea was that ?

Eurorubbish probably

--- Still !
Actually it was our merry, incompetent Government , under "Pressure"--- again !
A Tip -------- Sorry "Landfill"!----- near us ,was plagued by Seagulls---
Since I was in Local Government at the time, I suggested allowing a Falconer to fly his Perigrine, from time to time --and so --- exeunt Seagulls !

No No ! say the RSPB , the falcon MIGHT take a Dartford Warbler -- or Watford Dabbler -- I forget which !
This has now been reversed--- with no loss of either DWs or WDs,
This Country is Ruled by "Protest Groups" --- most of which have never seen a growing Tree or a ploughed Field, it seems to me ! but love to Lobby in high places on whatever the current fashion may be, and then move on to the next uninformed subject !
Yours "Disgusted -Tunbridge Wells" --- or a confessed "Grumpy Old Man " !

1 Blood orange marmalade! Made bucket loads a couple of years ago when we were still allowed to collect fruit (under supervision) from the Uni orchard. Sadly, this practice was banned after some Japanese tourists wandered through the unlocked gates and helped themselves, ruining three years of reasearch.

2 Bromelain(?) the proteolytic enzyme in pineapple is destroyed by heat. So, fresh pineapple (or kiwi fruit) stops jelly from setting, but canned or cooked won't.

3 We have discussed the origin of the term somewhere else on the forum. My favourite, told by Michael Caine to Parky, is that Mary Queen of Scots loved the stuff, particularly when unwell, and her Ladies What Did would be heard yelling 'Ma'am est malade' as they rushed to the castle kitchens.

4 Chunky or fine? Lime fine. Blood orange chunky. Hmmmm, wonder whether it's all relative to the thickness of the peel to begin with?

xxxxxx

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote: --- Still !
Actually it was our merry, incompetent Government , under "Pressure"--- again !
A Tip -------- Sorry "Landfill"!----- near us ,was plagued by Seagulls---
Since I was in Local Government at the time, I suggested allowing a Falconer to fly his Perigrine, from time to time --and so --- exeunt Seagulls !

Doesn't work quite like that. We have many different types of birds of prey (5 different eagles for a start) including falcons but we got the government to ban the proposed rubbish site because such sites attract seagulls and the site is under the line of low flying training by the French Airforce (2 aircraft at 11am on Tuesdays except August and cloudy days!)

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote: This Country is Ruled by "Protest Groups" --- most of which have never seen a growing Tree or a ploughed Field, it seems to me ! but love to Lobby in high places on whatever the current fashion may be, and then move on to the next uninformed subject !
Yours "Disgusted -Tunbridge Wells" --- or a confessed "Grumpy Old Man " !

Neill - you're are too cynical - they seem to make a lot of money out of it, be it government grants or pubic support for them to attend conferences in outer Ibiza. A very nice job to be in if that is your bent
Disgusted and Grumpy Old (but not so old) Man

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:1 Blood orange marmalade! Made bucket loads a couple of years ago when we were still allowed to collect fruit (under supervision) from the Uni orchard. Sadly, this practice was banned after some Japanese tourists wandered through the unlocked gates and helped themselves, ruining three years of reasearch.

2 Bromelain(?) the proteolytic enzyme in pineapple is destroyed by heat. So, fresh pineapple (or kiwi fruit) stops jelly from setting, but canned or cooked won't.

Blood orange marmalade! How marvellous! It must be a glorious colour. I was hovering over a stack of ruby grapefruit this morning, which I thought would be a lovely marmalade... haven't quite made up my mind... my most lethal little knife is still at the sharpener. I have taken Maggie's words about the slicing of the peel to heart. Then I got into an interesting debate with a marmalade-lover about the true characteristics of a Dundee marmalade. Hey, people are fanatical about this!

Caroline - the proteolytic enzyme in pineapple and kiwi which you mention now comes back to me. Every so often I make low-cal jelly (7 more lbs to diet away!) and the jelly packet warns not to add pineapple or kiwi as then the jelly won't set. However, I also remembered my dear old what-to-do-with-fruit cookery book from the 70s, which has a pineapple jam recipe. 3 lbs fresh pineapple + juice of 3 lemons. (Sometimes at school, girls would have a Hartleys' Pineapple jam as their home jam, but I haven't seen this for ages.) So... you simmer the pineapple for a good long time, kill the enzyme and the jam sets?

Brooding over my jam jars!

Marmalade is one of the items I go to the English Shop in Cologne to buy. But I'm told it's almost universally disliked by the young these days.

Perhaps I need a marmalade cutter to shred my peel more finely - such as http://www.leevalley.com/newsletters/Ga ... atisit.htm (but it looks like hard work).

Mary, I am screaming with laughter at this device! It's wonderful!!!

It's made my day.

Angela Woodford wrote:Mary, I am screaming with laughter at this device! It's wonderful!!!

It's made my day.

Hey! No laughing at Mary's gadgets . I reacted in much the same way when I saw her pineapple gadget, but quickly swallowed my laughter as I saw it in action. It's amazing.

Do have to say that I suspect that I could amputate a digit or two with the peel cutter, but could have made great use of the berry scoop in the dim and distant past when I used to have access to currant bushes, and would invariably squash the currants to a pulp as I tried to remove them from the bush.

xxxxx

MKM wrote:Perhaps I need a marmalade cutter to shred my peel more finely - such as http://www.leevalley.com/newsletters/Ga ... atisit.htm (but it looks like hard work).

Just looked at this and it is remarkably similar but more complex than the orange peeler used by street tradesmen in Central America.
Basically they put the orange between a small clamp and a spindle, with the clamp end attached to a handle and gear so that the orange can be rotated. There is a small cutter which is set to cut off the peel but not the pith. (For the engineers, it is a small lathe for oranges).
If you want orange juice, peel orange on "lathe", cut top off, squeeze orange and suck out juice.
Very simple, but so far, not available in the developed world, as far as I know.