[Sca-cooks] Candied fruits--oranges and lemons

[Raphaella DiContini]

For the feast I did last winter entirely from the anonymous Venetian I got a request for candied orange peels. I also got a request for vegan dishes, so I substituted sugar for honey. Here are some images of the process: http://ayeshadream.livejournal.com/242130.html

CXXX. A ffare ranciata bona e delicata. 
Toy la schorza del ranzo e fane quelli pezi che tu vole e curali ben dentro, miti a mole per 15 zorni poy le lessa in aqua tanto che sia tenere, lasale sugare per tri zorni, poy lo miti in lo mele che tu la voi bolire per tri zorni, poi la fa bolire un pocho e chambia, poy quello mele e miti l' altro chon le spezie; ma prima le specie siano messe dentro
sia spumato lo mele, bolla tanto che 'l mele sia ben cocto, poy la lassa alquanti zorni a l' aiere senza sole. 
CXXX To make a good and delicate dish of oranges 
Take the peel of the oranges, and cut into as many pieces as you want, and clean the insides well (free of white pith).  Soak the peels for fifteen days in water, then put them to boil in an excess of water until they are tender.  Let them dry for three days then put them in honey which you will boil for three days (bring the honey to a boil and leave the peels overnight).  Then you will give the honey a short boil and change it.  To that honey one will add the peels with spices.  First the spices are mixed into the skimmed honey, then the whole is boiled until the honey is well cooked.  Then you will leave the peels a number of days in the air without sun to dry. 

I also experimented with both the long soaking method, as well as the method Master Eduardo uses, detailed below. This worked quite well and bitterness wise came out about the same as the long soak. I also tried both just cutting the peels into quarters, then strips, as well as my final method which was using a large peel version of a zester and peeling around in a circle which leaves you with fairly pith-free strips of peel.

I chose to use a candying method similar to that which Master Eduardo uses for his candied orange peels. The oranges are peels are boiled in water three times, approx. 20 minutes each, replacing the water each time (and reserving the water from the first two boilings for orangewater to wash the hands with). The peels are then boiled in simple syrup starting with ¼ cup water, ½ cup sugar, for every 1 cup boiled peels. After letting them dry in a dehydrator that is turned off (so it’s not exposed to the air, but I found actually using the heat dries it too much), you can roll them in more sugar to coat the remaining stickiness and give them a nice sparkle. 

Another version- I did one batch that is much harder in texture, almost like a hard crack- this would be a candy you’d suck on rather than chew. I mostly used the first one, but depending on whether you want chewy or hard candy they're both quite nice. 

CXXXI. A ffare la ranziata batuta per altro modo. 
Fa chomo tu fa quella di sopra, azetto che non se muta el mele e vole essere molto ben batuto con uno coltello, poy coto in el mele e abi a mente che la vole essere cocta tanta
che lo mele sia quasio duro e vole pocho focho e temperato e sia cocto insieme con lo mele ed è fata. 
CXXXI To make a chopped orange dish in another way 
Make this dish the same as that above, except that one does not change the honey and the orange peels should be finely chopped with a knife, then cooked in the honey.  Bear in mind that they should be cooked so much that the honey is almost hard.  It needs a very slow and temperate fire to cook the peels together with the honey and it is done. 

In joyous service, 
Raffaella