In Melbourne, a city full of food and obsessed by coffee, I cook, I eat, I share the good news and the bad. essjay eats

Cumquats

Cumquat tree header

I had spied the cumquat tree in a friend’s back yard a week ago, and had been craving the preserved cumquats I had eaten at The Hardware Societe one morning on their famous brioche.  There was also a thought about making mustard fruits and cumquat mustard fruits are my favourite, and so a plan was hatched!

I am so lucky that I know a lot of people who love food as much as I do, and I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to tempt them to come and help pick the cumquats, and make them into something entirely delicious.  I mentioned this to Benjamin Cooper, Head Chef and St Ali at Night, and he mentioned a duck with Chilli cumquat marmalade…I reckon I could eat some of that!  and some Cumquat Curd, and marmalade, and the aforementioned mustard fruits and preserved cumquats.

We descended in the middle of the afternoon of a stunning Spring day, and picked the 5 Seville oranges that were still hanging around…I hope they produce enough juice for Anna’s bitter orange curd.  Then we contemplated the backyard, the chook, Bill the happiest dog on the planet, and the cumquat tree.  It didn’t look that large.

Cumquat tree - before

We had a break for afternoon tea and chit chat about food (of course!) then back out to pick these delicious looking cumquats.

It's a fairly tall tree

Yes - there were a lot of cumquats

We estimated that we ended up with about 20 kilos of cumquats.  More than enough for us, and to spread around to a few “special friends”.  I’ll follow up with a post on what we made with them.

Basket o'cumquats

Thank you Felicity, we’ll see you at apricot, mulberry, fig and grape time!

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7 thoughts on “Cumquats

  • Hi!

    Little bit of a strange message to send but I was googling what to do with the crazy amount of cumquats I have growing on our terrace and came across your article! Is there any chance that you and your friends want some more cumquats?! We’d love to see them used and have no idea where to start with giving them away!

    Thanks 🙂 Erin

    Comment from: Erin

  • @lisette – that sounds like a Christmas Indulgence!

    Comment from: essjayeats

  • cumquats with goose — thinks…..

    Comment from: lisette

  • Oh they sound lovely Sticki – I think it is Stephanie who says in the introduction to one of her cumquat recipes that they’re quite good after a few years, as we accidentally found out whilst cleaning out the cellar.

    Comment from: essjayeats

  • Picking them is a Childhood memory for me! Mum preserves them in sugar & brandy then leaves them unopened for a few years. Served with duck or goose they’re excellent.

    Comment from: Stickifingers

  • Oh fantastic! I will really look forward to seeing what the results are. Keep us posted!

    Comment from: Bells

  • […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suzanne Farrell, Sarah Robins. Sarah Robins said: RT @essjayeff: Quick and dirty blog – cumquat picking http://bit.ly/cgp5wF @eatnik @girhasappetite > Love quick & dirty! but no sponge pic? […]

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