HELLO AGAIN!

It’s been a long radio silence hasn’t it? Lots of things intervened in the life of this blog. A Just Add Love book launch, Covid and the tumultuous and terrible events of the past 15 months in Israel and the Palestinian territories where I am based as a reporter. But most of all the fact that our wonderful book Just Add Love sold out! (Happy Dance. It’s more than three years later, and I still can’t believe it!)

I have some good news. We are planning a reprint - finally!!! - and if you think you might want to register to be on our pre-order list, please fill in THIS FORM HERE. It’s a just to help us gauge numbers and locations. Payments will come later, this is to help us plan.

Spring

Winter is cold in Jerusalem and spring is usually joy-filled. And green! For a short time at any rate, before everything bleaches out in the sun, and the parched reality reasserts itself and everyone - humans, animals, insects and plants - puts their heads down to endure the summer.

But this has not been an ordinary year. The months since Hamas’s attacks of October 7th 2023 have been stressful - for civillians on both sides of the Gaza border, and on both sides of Israel’s border with Lebanon where tens of thousands of people have also been displaced. And in a different way, it’s been difficult for observers too, reporters like me covering this conflict. In fact, I don’t recall a more stressful or distressing time in all my years working here.

I will write about covering this war in Gaza and its repercussions at another time - I think I need some distance to be able to do that properly.

reflections

On a personal note, I have had to re-learn how to protect myself from the endless demands of this job and the news cycle, you know like realising you can’t work 24-7 forever since you will one day collapse, and it is alright to sometimes say no.

australia

I finally pushed myself onto a plane to take some time out, heading for family and friends at home in Australia. I didn’t have the energy to do much, or to see many people. I learnt that you have to find a different rhythm. Or rediscover the rhythm you once used to know. Travel by ferry. Return to favourite walks in national parks on NSW’s Central coast. Take dogs with you. Go to Sydney’s stunning sea pools to swim laps in salt water. Listen to music (and not only news!) Do yoga. Do yoga every day if you can.

Pay attention to ‘small’ things. A new bridge over a pond at the local park. Flowers on a path. A friend mastering home made Pisco Sours.

During this time, I learnt again what I had somehow forgotten, that cooking is also calming. It’s something about pace. You have to slow down to go to the grocers - or the supermarket - select the best produce, and return to wash, prepare and cook it. It’s different to buying a pre-cooked meal and bunging it in the micro. Chopping is meditative.

I’d prepare elaborate salads with grains and roasted vegetables as well as fresh veges and herbs, to eat with my mother. Delicious and nutritious. And I also baked one favourite fruit cake, to take to friends once I had the energy to venture out. Here it is, baked in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Plus, I was thrilled to watch some people start to bake it for their celebrations too. (Hats off to you Julie Gottlieb!)

Send me a message here if you want this recipe too :-)

Good food, in season, that you prepare yourself using local ingredients is a big contributor to a calm spirit as well as to a healthy life.

waste not, want not

As long time readers of this blog will know, one of the most important lessons the Just Add Love grandmothers have taught me is to make sure not to waste food. Women who have been starving know the importance of using up every last morsel. So vege scraps make soup stock. One dish is refashioned into another for left-overs. And no need for strict attention to use-by dates on cupboard staples like tinned corn or dried pasta.

When I returned to Jerusalem - off the plane just in time for the unprecedented Iranian missile strike - I rummaged around in my fridge and found 2 lemons barely hanging on from before I left for Australia, a thick-skinned old orange and some end of season cumquats. I knew something had to be concocted with these! And even though the quantities weren’t exactly right for David Leibowitz’s Cumquat marmalade, I wouldn’t let that stop me. (You can always add an extra orange to make things right. Can’t you, David?)

And I’m glad I did have a go, since this is one of the most delicious and delicate batches of marmalade I’ve ever tasted - and I have been lucky enough to visit a friend in Spain and to watch her make the Real Original Marmalade with Seville oranges from old trees in her garden.

Branching out from the basic recipe to add star anise, cardamom and some orange flower water probably helped, but it is actually the delicate taste of the cumquats that makes the difference.

Since Australia is heading into winter, the best time for citrus, it’s worth bookmarking this recipe to come back to in the next few weeks. As my friend Kate says, remembering her mother’s cumquat brandy, it might be time to invest in a cumquat tree!

PREP

David Leibowitz recommends waiting a day between boiling up the fruit, and adding the sugar and spices and cooking it. This produces a fantastic result, even if you only wait 6 hours between the 2 steps, rather than 24 hours.

I did make a few other changes, naturally - like adding some spices, and of course, reducing the sugar. Next time, I will use less water to boil up the fruit and make up the difference with orange juice instead, which might allow me to reduce the sugar even more.

By the way, English food writer Felicity Cloake who compares various recipes for one dish in the Guardian recommends adding some brown sugar as well - see this article - and I think I might try that next time.

I’m sharing this recipe again since lots of people have asked me for it. I think it’s the colour in that photo above … Irresistible!

Cumquat Marmalade with Star Anise & Cardamom

 Makes about 1.5 - 2 cups, about 375 g/ 12 0z

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lemons, halved, seeded, and sliced very thinly

• 500g / 1 lb cumquats stemmed, seeded, and sliced *

• reserved seeds from the lemons and cumquats

• 5 cups /1.25 litres water

• 1/2 cup lemon juice

• 1 cup (250g) sugar

• pinch of salt

• 2 whole star anise

• 2-3 cardamom pods, bruised

• Optional: pinch of cayenne pepper and 1 slug orange flower water (or alcohol such as brandy or cointreau instead)

  note: * if you don’t have enough cumquats, make up the difference in weight with oranges

METHOD

1.    Slicing and de-seeding the cumquats is definitely the job that takes the longest and it does require a bit of patience. Using a small serrated knife, slice off the stem end, then slice the cumquats crosswise, trying to catch any juice as you go. Remove the seeds with the tip of your knife and reserve them for later.

2.    Slice the lemon thinly and de-seed, making sure to add the seeds to your pile of cumquat seeds. Put the lemon slices into the pot you intend to use for the marmalade. (Since I was a bit low on cumquats, I threw in a sliced and de-seeded orange at this stage too.) A large non-reactive pot is best. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the lemons are translucent, 5-10 minutes. Discard the water. Put the blanched lemons back in the pot.

3. Tie the seeds from the lemons and cumquats in a piece of cheesecloth, or a nutmilk bag. Boiling these up with the fruit will release extra pectin and allows you to use less sugar.

4.    Add the sliced cumquats to the blanched lemons in the pot. Give it a stir and you will see any pips you’ve missed rise to the top. Remove them and add to your seed bag. Add the 1.25 litres water and your seed bag and bring to a boil. cook for 30 minutes, remove from heat, cover, and let stand 24 hours. Or less - though the longer it ‘steeps’ the better of course.

5.    When you are ready, add the sugar, lemon juice and pinch of salt to the pot, along with the spices. Keep the seed bag in the pot, and cook the fruit mix for 30 to 45 minutes over medium heat. Remove the bag of seeds after 15 minutes or so and when it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze the seeds over the pot. still in their cheesecloth. This allows you to capture any extra pectin from the seeds.

6.    Keep an eye on it - you want to maintain a rapid bubble but you don’t want it to dry out. Add your orange flower water or alcohol about now continue cooking until it has reached the jelling point, which is about 220ºF / 104ºC degrees. If you are using a thermometer that’s easy to see. If you don’t have one, chill a small plate in the freezer. Turn off the heat and put a spoonful of marmalade liquid onto onto the plate before returning it to the freezer. Check after a few minutes. It should be slightly jelled and will wrinkle a bit when you push a spoon through it. If not, continue to cook for a further 10 minutes or so, until it wrinkles slightly on the chilled plate when you test it.

7.    Turn it off while it still looks a little runny. The marmalade will continue to thicken as it cools. Remove from heat, and remove to clean jars. In a hot city like Jerusalem, it’s best to store in the refrigerator.

VERDICT

Simply fabulous. Spicy warm taste, not too sweet, not too bitter. And if you sprinkle some fresh zaatar on top, it’s perfect. In fact, divine.

Hope you can take a moment out to prepare something that takes a little time, but uses ingredients you have at home and produces a wonderful result. If you can cook with a child or grandchild - or if you are lucky enough, with your grandmother! - so much the better…

And don’t forget to let us know if you’d like another copy of our book. (Register here.)

Hope you all have a sweet, spicy and relaxed week!