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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
When life gives you cumquats or kumquats make a marmalade and mezcal cocktail
In our Melbourne garden, the only fruit tree that produces with any regularity is a cumquat. Bitter little things, cumquats – spelled kumquats outside Australia – are not quite as versatile as most other citrus. So, I say 'when life gives you cumquats, make marmalade!' – then use it in a punchy and tangy cocktail. The Lady Marmalade is a late-night specialty in our household. You can make a non-alcoholic version by shaking up the marmalade with a tangy fruit juice. Grapefruit with a splash of lime works well; the marmalade adds texture and complexity that elevates the juice to mocktail status. The cocktail is made with mezcal and apricot brandy but you can swap out the mezcal for aged tequila, brandy or whisky. You could also use a brighter marmalade based on lime, lemon or grapefruit, and switch the lime juice for lemon to pair with a lighter spirit. To make the spiced marmalade, you'll need a saucepan, juicer, microplane, measuring jug and scale. For the cocktail, you'll need a rocks glass, shaker and a jigger. 500g cumquats 1 cup (250ml) water, or enough to cover the cumquats250g granulated white sugar, or to taste (I like to keep my marmalade quite tart)Pinch salt 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp smoked paprika ½ lemon, zest and juice Quarter or slice the cumquats (depending on size). You can cover the cumquats with the water and leave them to soak overnight if you have time. This softens the fruit, which helps it to cook faster and keeps the flavour fresher, but it's not imperative. If you do this, cook the cumquats in the same water you soaked them in. Put the cumquats, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is tender and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt, spices, lemon zest and juice while still over a low heat, then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling for about 20 minutes, or until the marmalade has thickened. To check if it has reached setting point, place a small plate in the freezer until cold, then drop a dollop of marmalade on the cold plate. Tilt the plate and, if the marmalade doesn't run, you're good to go. If it runs, continue boiling for a few minutes, then use the same cold plate method to check again. Or you can just eyeball it, if you're a cowboy like me. Fish out any pips you can see. If marmalade is properly jarred and sealed in a sterile container, it can last in the pantry for up to six months. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use within 12 weeks. 45ml mezcal 15ml apricot brandy2 tbsp spiced cumquat marmalade30ml lime juiceCubed iceCumquat halves, to garnish Add the alcohol, marmalade and lime juice to your shaker tins with ice and shake hard. 'Dump' into your glass (in other words don't strain it, just pour in the same ice you shook with), adding more ice if necessary to fill the glass. Garnish with a cumquat half. This is an edited extract from Behind the Home Bar by Cara Devine, with photography by Gareth Sobey (A$36.99, NZ$36.99, Hardie Grant Books), out 1 July
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Aussie shocked by source of vile 'stench' coming from a bedroom during rental viewing in Melbourne
A prospective renter was horrified to discover a Post-It Note warning about a dead possum causing a 'stench' in one of the bedrooms in the rental. An anonymous member of the Facebook group 'Don't Rent Me' shared details of their recent visit to a three-bedroom home in Melbourne 's east. 'It was absolutely perfect for us except there was a foul smell coming from one of the bedrooms,' they wrote. 'Then I saw this note stuck to the door.' They shared a photo of a blue Post-It Note with the handwritten message: 'All furniture in here to hard rubbish b/c (because) dead possum smell'. The hopeful renter followed it up with a neighbour while they were throwing out their own rubbish. 'They said they heard there's a dead possum in the roof and it's the second time in six months but (the landlord) refuses to fix the roof or entry holes,' they continued. 'Current tenants are moving out as stench makes it uninhabitable. There were a lot of people viewing the house... Apart from the stench, it's a really nice house.' Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the landlord for comment through contacting the real estate seller Ray White. Aussies were quick to share their thoughts about the smell in the comments. 'Run! What else won't the landlord do maintenance on if they won't do maintenance on something like that?' one person said, using multiple red flag emojis. A second said: 'That's disgusting and I'm pretty sure unsafe.' A third person shared a warning that the stench might never leave the property. 'You will never completely get rid of the stench it will be in the carpets through the plasterboard where the decaying liquid has seeped into plasterboard,' they said. 'Give it a very wide berth. If you put it as a condition on your application, you will not be accepted to start with.' But one person said the previous tenants should have addressed the problem. 'Surely it would have been less of an expense for the previous tenants to simply organise and pay for the possum removal themselves and to put up a nesting box in the nearby area?' they questioned. Consumer Affairs Victoria has noted the law 'doesn't always say who is responsible for fixing or paying to fix a problem with pests, infestations or mould'. But it said: 'If the problem happens because of the building structure a renter can ask for an urgent repair. 'The rental provider may be responsible if a problem with the property has caused the mould or damp or allowed pests to enter and they have not fixed the problem.' One example given is if a hole in the roof lets in pests. But a renter could still be responsible if their behaviour contributed to the problem, such as if pests were attracted to rubbish they didn't remove.
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- The Guardian
When life gives you cumquats or kumquats make a marmalade and mezcal cocktail
In our Melbourne garden, the only fruit tree that produces with any regularity is a cumquat. Bitter little things, cumquats – spelled kumquats outside Australia – are not quite as versatile as most other citrus. So, I say 'when life gives you cumquats, make marmalade!' – then use it in a punchy and tangy cocktail. The Lady Marmalade is a late-night specialty in our household. You can make a non-alcoholic version by shaking up the marmalade with a tangy fruit juice. Grapefruit with a splash of lime works well; the marmalade adds texture and complexity that elevates the juice to mocktail status. The cocktail is made with mezcal and apricot brandy but you can swap out the mezcal for aged tequila, brandy or whisky. You could also use a brighter marmalade based on lime, lemon or grapefruit, and switch the lime juice for lemon to pair with a lighter spirit. To make the spiced marmalade, you'll need a saucepan, juicer, microplane, measuring jug and scale. For the cocktail, you'll need a rocks glass, shaker and a jigger. 500g cumquats 1 cup (250ml) water, or enough to cover the cumquats250g granulated white sugar, or to taste (I like to keep my marmalade quite tart)Pinch salt 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp smoked paprika ½ lemon, zest and juice Quarter or slice the cumquats (depending on size). You can cover the cumquats with the water and leave them to soak overnight if you have time. This softens the fruit, which helps it to cook faster and keeps the flavour fresher, but it's not imperative. If you do this, cook the cumquats in the same water you soaked them in. Put the cumquats, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is tender and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt, spices, lemon zest and juice while still over a low heat, then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling for about 20 minutes, or until the marmalade has thickened. To check if it has reached setting point, place a small plate in the freezer until cold, then drop a dollop of marmalade on the cold plate. Tilt the plate and, if the marmalade doesn't run, you're good to go. If it runs, continue boiling for a few minutes, then use the same cold plate method to check again. Or you can just eyeball it, if you're a cowboy like me. Fish out any pips you can see. If marmalade is properly jarred and sealed in a sterile container, it can last in the pantry for up to six months. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use within 12 weeks. 45ml mezcal 15ml apricot brandy2 tbsp spiced cumquat marmalade30ml lime juiceCubed iceCumquat halves, to garnish Add the alcohol, marmalade and lime juice to your shaker tins with ice and shake hard. 'Dump' into your glass (in other words don't strain it, just pour in the same ice you shook with), adding more ice if necessary to fill the glass. Garnish with a cumquat half. This is an edited extract from Behind the Home Bar by Cara Devine, with photography by Gareth Sobey (A$36.99, NZ$36.99, Hardie Grant Books), out 1 July
