At last, Seville oranges have appeared in the shops, which means it is time for marmalade making.

Bob is the marmalade maker around here. Each January he tries to make enough Seville marmalade to last us through the year. You can make marmalade from other kinds of oranges, of course – or combinations of orange, grapefruit, lime etc – but nothing quite matches the fresh wake-me-up tang of Seville oranges.

Our method begins with boiling the whole oranges for two hours. Surprisingly, the oranges don’t distingegrate during this long boiling process, but instead acquire a luscious pillowy texture. They are heavy, hot, fragant and dense, fascinatingly squashy to the touch. I love this stage and am rather sorry when it has to give way to meticulous chopping before the next and crucial stage of being boiled with sugar at high temperature.

Yesterday as I contemplated the boiled oranges resting in a bowl (see photo), I found myself thinking about stages of preparation – not just of marmalade making, but of unrelated things like getting a piece of music ready for performance. Some of the earlier stages, like imagining what could be done with the music and trying different ways of doing it, are quite lovely but are never witnessed by anyone (except the cat).

Obviously the player has to keep in mind a finished product (the marmalade) and work towards it, but it is a pity sometimes to lose touch with the piece in its embryonic form – round and full of potential, fun to put your hands on, not yet finely chopped and turned into a glossy presentable product.