Γλυκό πορτοκάλι.
Orange fruit, a favourite citrus fruit, can also be used whole to make spoon sweets. Suitable varieties are Merlin and Jaffa.
Name - Recipe
Γλυκό του κουταλιού πορτοκάλι.
4 oranges (Merlin or Jaffa) 1 1/2 kg sugar 1 glass of water 2 tbsp lemon juice
Grate the orange peel on a fine grater. Boil the oranges whole for half an hour. Within 8 hours, change the water 2-3 times (use cold water). Cut each orange into quarters and then into eighths. Remove the seeds and use a pair of scissors to cut off the coarse fibres. Place the orange pieces on a rather deep dish and sprinkle them with half the sugar to release the juice. On the following day, boil the juice extracted from the oranges with the rest of the sugar and water until it is ready. Allow the syrup to cool and pour in the orange pieces. Boil them for about 5 minutes and remove from heat. On the following day, bring to a boil until the syrup is ready - add the lemon juice just before it is ready. Fill the jars once the sweet is cool, cap them and store them. (MANRE 2009a, 21; MANRE 2009b, 72)
Boiling.
Dipping in syrup.
How do we know when the syrup is ready: Place some syrup in a spoon and let it drip away in the pot. When the syrup flows away easily, it means it is still watery and not ready. Keep on boiling and test again until the flow separates into drops. When a final drop remains hanging from the spoon, it means that the density is right and the syrup is ready. If not, that means that the syrup is not ready and needs a bit more boiling. Repeat the testing procedure again until you get the right consistency.
If the syrup is properly thickened, then the spoon sweet can be preserved for a very long period of time in a cool, dry place without having to be kept in a refrigerator. (MANRE 2009)
Additional information and bibliography
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture (2009). Traditional spoon sweets and jams, Press and Information Office, Nicosia.
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment (2009b) "For the farmer: citrus fruits and how to preserve them", Farmer (January-February-March 2009).
Varvara Yangou
Traditional Recipes
Cookies with orange zest
The orange zest gives these cookies a wonderful aroma and a distinctive taste.
Traditional Recipes
Marmelada esperidoïdon - citrus marmalade
For the preparation of this bittersweet marmalade a variety of citrus fruit is used: orange, bitter orange, grapefruit, mandarin and lemon.
Traditional Recipes
Portokaláda - Orange Squash
For the preparation of orange squash, Valencia oranges are used. Their juice is boiled together with sugar in equal proportions.
Traditional Recipes
Spoon sweets - Butternut squash
A delightful spoon sweet with its characteristic shape of a spring.
Traditional Recipes
Spoon sweets - Carrot
One of the lesser known spoon sweets, but just as delicious as the other sweets.
Traditional Recipes
Spoon sweets - Cherry
Special tools are used today to remove the pits. In the past, women used metal hairpins.
Traditional Recipes
Spoon sweets - Pear
"We peel the pears without cutting the stem. We heat the syrup, add the pears and turn them twice." (Eleftheria Valanidou, Agridia).
Foods
Sweeteners in the 18th century
Report of Archim. Kyprianos (1788) in his book " Chronological History of the Island of Cyprus" on the types of crops used to produce sweetening substances in the 18th century
Traditional Recipes
Γλυκό περγαμόντ
A particular spoon sweet, bergamot is bittersweet with a delightful aroma.