Candied Peel

Candied citrus peel is something simple and wonderful. 20th Century food industrialization turned it into an abomination. This is worth pulling back from the abyss.

My first experience with homemade candied peel was when my friend, Jackie, brought back to the States a fruitcake made by her brother at her childhood home in Kolkata at Christmas time. My own brother makes a pretty awesome fruitcake during the winter holidays, but Jackie’s brother made his own homemade candied peel and it was on a whole other level.

Many traditional foods became bastardized in the 20th Century by industrialization in the United States. Beer is a great example. After the 1950s, a cornucopia of beer styles had been reduced to a choice of one. Thanks to marketing, the neo-fascists who consider themselves to be the only “real” Americans now consider pale piss-water to be “real” beer.

I’m not a fancy cook. I live in the realm of peasant food. I want to reclaim traditional recipes, use good ingredients and maybe “healthy” them up a bit by not relying completely on salt and fat for flavor. Reclaiming candied peel is right up my alley.

My oldest brother – the one who makes the awesome fruitcakes – announced after the long winter of Covid, after we had all been safely vaccinated, that he’d like to come down for a visit and make mincemeat. In summer.

His recipe called for a lot of candied peel and we soon discovered that the stuff sold in grocery stores – those tubs containing the nuclear-colored Rosemary’s Baby known as Candied Mixed Peel – was available only at Christmas time.

It just so happens my partner, Debra, made her own candied citrus peel for a Christmas Pudding she made from scratch last year. (It was wonderful and will be the subject of a future blog post. So will the recipe for mincemeat.)

Candied citrus peel is simply splendid. It’s one of life’s simple pleasures and should not be missed. They’re fabulous dipped in chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 3 – 4 Oranges
• 3 – 4 Lemons
• 1 Grapefruit
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 cups Water

Directions:

Step 1: Peel the fruit and slice into ¼ inch strips. Try not to get very much of the white pith.

Step 2: Put the peel in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, return to the pan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer for another 30 minutes.

The purpose for this initial two stages of boiling in water is to reduce bitterness.

Step 3: Drain the peel and bring two cups of water to a boil and stir in two cups of sugar until dissolved. Add the citrus peel and simmer for 30 minutes until the peel is translucent.

Step 4: Spread the candied peel out on wire racks over baking sheets to cool and dry. If you’re planning on storing them it’s a good idea to toss them in sugar to prevent them from clumping together.