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bergamot oranges


trillium

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So they've managed to grow some bergamot oranges in California, and I've managed to get my hands on some. I'm very undecided about what I should do with them... thoughts of marmalade, infused liqueurs, or other sweets are flitting around but I'm wondering if there are any super traditional culinary uses for these wonderfully aromatic fruits in Calabrian cookery. Tea and perfume don't count.

regards,

trillium

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well, I don't know how authentic it is, but one of my favorite restaurants makes a very cool bergamot sorbet, which would be easy enough to do (or transform into a granita). The flavor is very perfumy, verging on a kind of soapy effect, so you might want to combine it with a more substantial flavor (berries would be good, but not in season obviously) -- maybe some nice sweet tangerines if you can still find them.

I imagine that the zest would be interesting in savory foods.

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I don't believe they are actually oranges, but a distinct type of citrus fruit.

Click Here for the BERGAMOT CONSORTIUM OF REGGIO CALABRIA

or below for the short version -

Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria

Craig, I thought the same thing, but apparently bergamots are a cultivar of sour orange, Citrus aurantium ssp. bergamia, and sometimes called "bergamot orange" in english, though I usually just see them called "bergamot."

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Essential Oil of Bergamot is the key flavoring agent in Earl Grey tea. So while use in Tea itself may not be your objective, certainly, combination of bergamot zest with some black tea in a dessert of some sort may be an interesting idea. Also oranges and citrus fruit zest goes very well with chocolate, and coffee.

Infusion is also probably a good thing to do with these, I'd infuse some Rum or vodka with it.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

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Bergamot = Bergamot orange which is more an orange then an orange as the original oranges in Europe were sour/bitter oranges which the bergamot is one of and not the sweet kind. Different species to the sweet orange though ( sub-species of the sour/bitter orange as mentioned).

Buy a still and make homemade cointreau.

Edited by Adam Balic (log)
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Yeah that whole Cointreau thing has already crossed my mind since I have access to Seville or sour oranges too. Very tempting. I am going to infuse some grain alcohol or vodka with some of these guys, but I'm trying to think of savory things to do with them too, since I'm the only one in the house with a sweet tooth. I tracked down a mention of them on the same page as mussels on the Babbo webpage and I'm also thinking about incorporating them into a savory citrus risotto. They have a really strong herbal taste, so I was thinking about duck too.

Since I've been stuck at home with a nasty cold so far all I've done with them is suck on wedges, the sour is lovely on the throat and they're so aromatic I can smell them in my nose-impaired state.

And Sam, cocktails were the reason I bought them in the first place...I've been infatuated lately with making Bitters and I thought the bergamot flavor would replace the lemon nicely and complement the Chartreuse and Pernod.

Bitter Cocktail

1 ounce gin

1/2 ounce green chartreuse

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1 dash absinthe or Pernod

regards,

trillium

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This guy sells across from me at the Marin farmers market and I sampled his bergamot syrup last weekend. I ended up buying a bottle. All of his stuff is good and he knows what he's talking about. He actually had an old dried bergomot in the booth. Very non-descript until he scrtached it with a fork and it was divine!

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

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I use them in cocktails but I know others use them mostly in food. Doesn't he list a bunch of things on his site? There was something about duck breasts, I know.

Tana, I think they are about 6-7 bucks, but I really don't remember. Not cheap, but very concentrated.

Edited to add: I think he's only in San Rafael on Sundays but the syrups are in Artisan Cheese inside the ferry building, not part of the farmers market.

Edited by rancho_gordo (log)

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

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trillium,

Thanks for the heads up over in the

Pacific NW board about these oranges. I picked up a few this weekend and made marmalade (with props to Nigella for the short cut recipe).

I simmered the fruit whole for about an hour, then cooled it. Cut into slices and basically sectioned (use fingers and knife to separate membrane and seeds), sliced rind thinly, then mixed it with pulp and sugar (about 60% sugar by weight...600 grams fruit, 400 grams sugar) and cooked.

I simmered for about 30 minutes, until the rind was almost completely transluscent. Very good (and the house smelled great all day) but still pretty sour, which I like.

Jim

olive oil + salt

Real Good Food

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I wasn't sure whether or not to put this in this thread because it's not exactly Italian....but we used one of the bergamots on some salmon on Friday night. I put it out to warm up and sprinkled zest, plenty of salt (a la Judy Rodgers) and black pepper on the top. When it was time to bake it I put sections of the orange on the top of the fillet. We ate it with garlic and oil pasta and steamed asparagus. Good stuff.

Marmalade next weekend...thinking of adding some blood oranges to the mix to counterbalance the bergamots.

regards,

trillium

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funny you should mention blood oranges...I also made blood orange marmalade, which I had been planning and had the fruit for before reading about the bergamots...thought about combiing them, but wanted the pure experience first.

the bergamot marm is intense and pretty tart, but I like it.

Jim

olive oil + salt

Real Good Food

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That sounds like it has promise, thanks for the link.

Last night I started candying some of the peels and they really make the house smell good.

If you want to, you can use the http button above where you type text, you'll be prompted for the url and then the name you want to give it. It will appear in the text as the name you assigned it, highlighted and attached to the website.

regards,

trillium

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I wasn't sure whether or not to put this in this thread because it's not exactly Italian....but we used one of the bergamots on some salmon on Friday night.

(interestingly, she says it is an "unknown hybrid" between sour orange and something else)

That's funny, because today's SF Cron article devoted to bergamot features a recipe for bergamot Salmon.

Carol, are you reading this?

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That sounds like it has promise, thanks for the link.

Last night I started candying some of the peels and they really make the house smell good.

If you want to, you can use the http button above where you type text, you'll be prompted for the url and then the name you want to give it. It will appear in the text as the name you assigned it, highlighted and attached to the website.

regards,

trillium

ohh!!! thanks for the tip!

I use bergamot essential oil for soaps, salt scrubs etc. I'm jealous that you have the real thing in hand. enjoy!

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By a funny coincidence, I just bought a bottle of that bergamot syrup. I'd love to hear more specific details of your cocktail uses of it.

Edited to add: I was thinking of trying it drizzled over marscarpone or Greek yogurt, but the citrus + dairy acidity might not go well. Maybe pots de creme would be a nice vehicle, if I were less lazy.

Edited by redfox (log)

"went together easy, but I did not like the taste of the bacon and orange tang together"

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