‘Knoweth thou the Land where the lemon trees flourish;

Where amid the shadowed leaves the golden oranges glisten..

Thither, thither, fain would I fly with thee, my beloved.

J.W. Goethe

I used to live in a lovely, gated Country Estate, called Broadacres, in the beautiful Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands, surrounded by orange orchards, so little wonder that my love of cooking became more and more focused on this glorious, golden fruit.

I have not been trained as a Chef, nor undergone extensive training at a formal School of Cookery. This Blog represents old fashioned, classical home-cooking – hopefully with a dash of panache. My emphasis is always on taste and flavour and presentation is aimed at being simple, yet appealing.

Since the start of my research into everything orange, I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful recipes embellished with oranges, tucked away everywhere- in acclaimed cookery books, glossy magazines, inspiring foodie blogs and culinary websites. Various generous local chefs, gourmet family members and foodie friends have all generously shared so many mouth-watering orange recipes with me as well.

I am a huge admirer of Nigel Slater who, in his wonderful, witty, irreverent cook-book ‘Appetite,’ shows us ‘how to break the rules, experiment with recipes and satisfy our appetites’ as he celebrates ‘uncomplicated cooking, good ingredients and the joy of eating,’ cutting out all the snobbery and pretence so often associated with food and cooking.

In 2012 I self-published a Cook Book called Ode to Oranges. Many of these recipes will also appear in this Blog alongside amazing new ones. The recipes are easy to follow and have been tried and tasted several times before being posted. They are all truly delicious. Each recipe has been adjusted to make a standardised, generous serving for four people and each one has been subtly enhanced by the fragrant and tangy flavours of orange juice, orange rind or orange essence.

I hope that by trying these recipes you will also begin to appreciate the wonderful and varied contribution that orange juice or rind can make to the simplest of dishes.

Feel free to copy and share them.

with love

Linda

“To be a good cook means the knowledge

Of all fruits, herbs, balms and spices;

And of all that is healing and sweet in

Field and groves; savoury in meats. It

 Means carefulness, inventiveness,

Watchfulness, willingness and readiness

of appliance. It means the economy

of our great-grandmothers and the

science of modern chemists;

it means much tasting and no wasting; it means

English thoroughness, French art and

Arabian hospitality; it means, in fine, that you are to see that everybody has

Something nice to eat “

John Ruskin (1819 to 1900: Taken from “The Love of Cooking by ” by Sonia Allison