December: the month of celebrations and joy, but also the month of the cold. We need to strengthen our immune system and what nature gives us to bring to the table helps us. The orange color of the citrus fruits dominates the fresh fruit stands.

Oranges, mandarins, clementines, protagonists of the winter table, make a significant contribution of Vitamin C which helps fight seasonal ailments.

But that’s not all: all these citrus fruits are an excellent base for marmalades, liqueurs and many other recipes to experiment during this holiday season!

Follow the recipes of our chefs, simple to replicate even at home, taking care to select quality raw materials, of controlled origin and possibly organic, don’t forget that all the best citrus fruits come from Calabria.

CITRUS MARMALADE 
Recipe for 2 jars (90 g)

INGREDIENTS
1 kg of navel oranges from the Ionian sea
250 g of Calabrian clementines
170 g of sugar
1 cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean

PROCEDURE
To prepare the citrus marmalade, start by sanitizing the jars as indicated by the Ministry of Health. Then, peel the oranges alive. Cut the orange peel into thin strips. Make the water boiled in a saucepan and boil the strips you have obtained for a couple of minutes. Then drain them and repeat the operation again, boiling more water and boiling the peels again: by repeating the procedure with new water, in fact, you will deprive the peel of a percentage of bitter taste. Drain the peels again and keep aside. Extract the wedges of orange pulp, trying to preserve the juice that comes out (you can collect it in a bowl). Then squeeze the juice from all the tangerines, filter it and pour it into a saucepan; also pour in the orange pulp and their juice, the sugar, the cinnamon sticks, the seeds of the vanilla bean. Mix the ingredients, turn on the medium-low heat and bring to a light boil: cook like this for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, you can also add the orange peel. Mix it, then remove the vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks. Cook for another 35 minutes: you will have to check the temperature with a kitchen thermometer: when it reaches 108°, the citrus marmalade will be ready. Put it, still hot, in the freshly sanitized jars, using a funnel. Proceed by screwing the jars tightly together and leaving the marmalade to cool completely. Before consumption, make sure that the caps do not make the classic “click-clack” by pressing in the centre, indicating that the vacuum has not succeeded correctly.

MANDARIN LIQUEUR
Recipe for 0.75 liters of liqueur

INGREDIENTS
5 untreated Calabrian clementines
0,25 l pure alcohol 96°
0.25 l water
250 g sugar

PROCEDURE
To make the mandarin liqueur, first wash the mandarins under running water and dry them carefully with a clean cloth, then gently remove the peel. After separating the fruit from the peel, cover the latter with pure alcohol.  Leave to soak for 5 days at room temperature covered with plastic wrap, in a cool place away from light. Remember to shake the mixture once a day. After this time, prepare the syrup: pour the sugar and water into a saucepan, light the fire and wait for it to boil, then switch off and let it cool completely. Add the syrup to the mixture of peels and alcohol, mix well and leave covered for about 10-20 days, always taking care to shake everything once a day. After this time the volume will be slightly reduced and the color more intense. At this point, filter the mixture to remove the rinds and pour it into bottles. Your mandarin liqueur is ready to be enjoyed very cold. Cheers!