Ernesto has given up his project CASA CARLOS – for the time being. The orange trees of his finca in the Sierra Calderona in the north-west of Valencia seem now to be too old to resist long periods of drought und pests harming citrus trees. For a restart it needs a complete replantation with young trees.
Since 2019 we enjoyed his clementines and his oranges, receiving a total amount of 560 kilos after the adoption of three of his trees. Every box arriving in our Frankfurt home was perfect in shape and in taste.
We like to thank him heartfully for this fruitful cooperation. And we wish him all the best in the future with a lot of energy to start again.
Covering letter to the delivery from Casa Carlos :
Thank you for supporting us and our project again this year.
It’s our fourth orange-growing season for CrowdFarming and our goal is for you to enjoy your very own piece of our farm. The temperatures were very high this summer and autumn, so the fruit is a little smaller than normal. However, as soon as you try it, you’ll see that there’s an excellent balance between sweet and bitter, giving a wonderfully pleasant taste. As always, we’ve waited for exactly the right time to start harvesting, so that the fruit is at its optimal point of ripeness. The oranges you’ve received have completed their cycle on the tree and haven’t gone through any type of treatment, as they don’t need it.
Since July 2021, our entire farm has been certified organic and since November of the same year, we’ve held Demeter certification in Biodynamic Agriculture. You can rest assured that we grow our fruit in harmony with nature. We don’t use any type of toxic products and we follow the principles of fully organic and sustainable agriculture.
You’ll find fruits of different sizes and appearance in the box, but that’s perfectly normal. A fruit that has grown on the north-facing side of the tree isn’t the same as one that has grown on the south-facing side, for example. And there are differences between trees and even between branches. Mother Nature is varied, as is our fruit.
We hope you enjoy our oranges, at least as much as we do when growing them.
Ernesto Esccribano
How to preserve the oranges?
Keep the oranges in a cool and airy place, they will keep for 2-3 weeks. If you want to store them longer, put them in the fridge.
Hi Carlos –
This winter we are enjoying your wonderful oranges for the second time –
And this time even MORE … meaning: from pulp to peel!
Why is that?
Because our friend from London has sent us her cookery book with Babylonian kitchen treasures – among which we’ve found a wonderful recipe for candied orange peel … *
This is how it goes:
Preparation:
Lightly grate the surface of the orange, score the skin into 8 equal parts and peel away each segment. Store and freeze the skins segments until you have collected the sufficient amount.
Ingredients:
6–8 oranges
500 g sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Place the peel into a pot and cover generously with water. Bring to the boil and continue boiling, the pot uncovered, for roughly 5 minutes. Then drain and discard the water – and repeat the whole process (these two stages remove the bitterness).
Now roll each peel into a curl and insert a tooth pick to secure. Repeat until all skin strips are rolled.
Rinse the pot thoroughly (to remove any bitter residue), pour sugar and 700 ml Water into the pot and bring to the boil. Put in all the rolled peel and make sure, that the water covers the peel (add more water, if necessary). Keep on boiling, the pot uncovered, until the syrup reduces to half.
Now drizzle in the lemon juice and keep boiling until the syrup reduces to a thick liquid, covering about half a centimeter at the bottom of the pot.
Remove from the heat and tilt the pot to one side. Spoon the syrup many times over the peel. Transfer to a plate and leave to cool completely.
Finally, pull out the toothpicks (holding down each roll with a fork so it does not unravel), put the candied peel in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving or freezing for later use.
You may also roll them in desiccated coconut flakes. Any leftover syrup can be used as jam!
Enjoy!
*For further delicious recipes from the Orient see:
LINDA DANGOOR: Flavours of Babylon (Waterpoint Press, London/UK 2014)
Hallo Kirsten,
thanks a lot for comment and recipe –
you find it too on the web site under recipes.
saludos cordiales
Frank