Citrus amara
Wikimedia Commons - A. Barra
Wikimedia Commons - Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
While the raw pulp is not edible, bitter orange is widely used in cooking. The Seville orange (the usual name in this context) is prized for making British orange marmalade, being higher in pectin than the sweet orange, and therefore giving a better set and a higher yield. Once a year, oranges of this variety are collected from trees in Seville and shipped to Britain to be used in marmalade. However, the fruit is rarely consumed locally in Andalusia. This reflects Britain, Portugal and Spain's historic Atlantic trading relationship; an early recipe for 'marmelet of oranges' was recorded by Eliza Cholmondeley in 1677. Bitter orange—bigarade—was used in all early recipes for duck à l'orange, originally called canard à la bigarade. Malta too has a tradition of making bitter oranges into marmalade. In Finland, mämmi is a fermented malted rye dough flavoured with ground Seville orange zest. Across Scandinavia, bitter orange peel is used in dried, ground form in baked goods such as Christmas bread and gingerbread. In Greece, the nerántzi is one of the most prized fruits used for spoon sweets. In Adana province, Turkey, bitter orange jam is a principal dessert. Bitter oranges are made into chutneys in India, either in the style of a raita with curds, or roasted, spiced, and sweetened to form a condiment that can be preserved in jars. In Yucatán (Mexico), it is a main ingredient of the cochinita pibil. In Suriname, its juice is used in the well-known dish pom. An essential oil is extracted from the peel of dried, unripe bitter oranges; C. aurantium var. curassaviensis in particular is used in Curaçao liqueur. An oil is pressed from the fresh peel of ripe fruit in many countries and used in ice creams, puddings, sweets, soft and alcoholic drinks, and pharmaceuticals. The flowers are distilled to yield Neroli oil and orange flower water, with similar uses. Neroli oil is also employed in perfumes. The peel of bitter oranges is used as a spice in Belgian Witbier (white beer), for orange-flavored liqueurs such as Cointreau, and to produce bitters such as Oranjebitter. It is a component of Nordic hot spiced wine, glögg.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant.
Africa, Central Africa, Congo DR,
How to Identify
A tropical citrus tree in the Rutaceae family grown for its fruit.
Notes
An unresolved species in The Plant List.
References (1)
- Koni, J. M. & Bostein, K., 2008, Noms et usages des plantes utiles chez les Nsong, DR Congo. University of Gothenburg. Department of Oriental and African Languages. p 44
