It’s full steam ahead at the Melrose and Morgan production kitchen in Chalk Farm, London. We have all enjoyed the Christmas break but now it’s time to make the annual batch of Seville Orange Marmalade. It’s a short season for these fruits, just this month and next so there is no time to be wasted in capturing these rays of Spanish sunshine and getting them into a jar to enjoy throughout the year. It’s our most popular preserve and we have just 40 jars left from last years stock so the season has started just at the right time. There are lots of recipes for marmalade that you can follow -  I was taught by Pam Corbin on a day course at River Cottage a few years ago, how to refine my marmalade making skills. She has published this recipe which I recommend you try as a starting point. As you make more marmalades from year to year you will come up with your own twist on  this recipe to make it unique to you and you will discover your own set of rules that will improve your final product. Some of my rules that I apply to my preserving are; buy the best quality fruit you can find at the peak of its season; scrub your fruit before cooking – you will have a clearer jam; use different types of sugar to give depth of flavour; shred your fruit finely – it helps to release more pectin; don’t stir the jam while it’s cooking – you will interupt the set; taste the jam when you have a set and season with lemon juice to lift the flavour if needed. Our Seville Orange marmalade was Highly Commended at the Original Marmalade Festival last year so we will entering again this year and going for gold!