five quarters of the orange

I have recently been reminiscing over all of the books I read in my formative years which initially attracted me to France. This, combined with my recent orange obsession, reminded me of Joanne Harris’ book, Five Quarters of the Orange. There is a scene where the little girl puts dried orange peel into the house’s heating vents and the house is filled with a sweet yet faint aroma of oranges. While this is her mother’s absolute nightmare, I can’t think of anything better.

Dried orange peel is something that is so easy to make and so useful for so many different ways of cooking.

Turn your oven up relatively high for this; about 250°C on fan bake. Peel a bunch of oranges; enough to fill a baking tray. For the peels to dry properly they need to be quite thin, so slice them lengthways to get as much of the pith off as you can. Bake the peel slices for about 30 minutes or until they are dry and brittle, you can make a judgement call on this based on the size of your pieces and the strength of your oven.

This is such a versatile ingredient; add it to a stew or slow-cooked brisket or chuck steak for a subtle sweet tang, or simmer with some double cream or chocolate to add another dimension to your desserts. They will store for weeks and once cooked they develop a soft, candied texture and can be eaten as part of the dish.