You can of course buy marmalade in a supermarket. But shop-bought marmalade is poor stuff. It contains too much sugar and not enough oranges. (My grandmother used to say that shop marmalade was made with potatoes!) No, if you want proper marmalade, you have to make it yourself at home.

　　The last two weeks in January is marmalade time. It is cold outside. Perhaps a few snowflakes are falling. But inside, the kitchen is warm and a delicious smell of oranges fills the house. So how do we make marmalade? The ingredients are simple – Seville oranges, a lemon, sugar and water. We chop the oranges and the lemon finely, including the peel. We add the water, and bring it to the boil. We boil the mixture until the oranges are cooked, then we add the sugar and continue boiling until the marmalade begins to set (ie until it starts to form a jelly). Then we put the marmalade into glass jars, and put a pretty label on each jar saying “marmalade”. You can store marmalade for a year or even longer until you need it. A jar of home-made marmalade makes a lovely present to give to friends or relatives.

　　Sarah Franklin has taken some wonderful photographs of making marmalade. On her flickr page she has included her recipe, so – if you can find any Seville oranges – you can have a go yourself. For myself, I have another 10 kilos of marmalade to make before the next podcast.

　　There is a grammar and vocabulary note with this podcast. If you are listening on iTunes or an iPod, you will need to go to the podcast website to see it.