We’ve a little tradition in our family of making a display on Christmas Eve of 13 different types of sweets, arranged on a table with three cloths. It was a tactic I deployed when my children were young to occupy them in the pre-Christmas excitement and has become something they look forward to doing every year. It is actually a French tradition, I believe, with the sweets representing Jesus and the twelve apostles while the three cloths relate to the holy trinity.

Plan ahead

When time allows, we’ll make some of the sweet treats ourselves. One that’s become a favourite, made every year, is chocolate-dipped candied orange peel. It makes a great gift for friends and family too.

However it does need to be prepared well ahead of time; crystallising just can’t be hurried. Over the years I’ve highlighted in my recipe the number of days each stage takes so I can plan accordingly.

Though the modern instructions I follow can seem quite a faff, I was amused to stumble upon an even more convoluted process from more than five hundred years ago.

Nostradamus

The 15^th Century version was documented by Michael de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus (1503 – 1566). He’s become renowned for his prophecies but was also one of the most important doctors and healers of his time, particularly gaining a reputation for treating plague victims and also a favourite astrologer of the French royal family (invited by Queen Catherine de Medici) and an initiated alchemist and travelling apothecary.

In a series of books and writings, Nostradamus set down many instructions for making medical preparations, cosmetics, elixirs of youths as well as jams, jellies and preserves. These are also contained within the yearly almanacs that he published, which gained him the reputation for prophecy.

So for your delight and amusement, and possibly as useful instruction, here are both versions of a recipe for making crystalised peel – the modern and the medieval.

Chocolate dipped candied orange peel

6 oranges
1 kg sugar

150g plain chocolate

Day One

Quarter the oranges and remove the flesh and pith *see note below

Put the peel into a large pan with 1.6 litres of water and bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour until the peel is tender (not floppy)

Lift out the peel using a slotted spoon and put it into a bowl.

Measure 600ml of the liquid and put it into the pan with 600g of sugar (if there’s not enough liquid, make up the difference with water). Dissolve gently, then bring to the boil for one minute, then pour over the peel and leave for 24 hours.

Day Two

Strain the syrup from the peel into a pan, and add the remaining sugar. Dissolve gently then bring to the boil for one minute. Pour over the peel and leave for another 24 hours.

Day Three

Pour the peel and syrup into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour, or until the peel is slightly translucent.

Transfer both syrup and peel to a clean bowl, cover and leave for four days.

Day Seven

Drain the peel and discard the syrup **or see notes below on ideas for using the orangey sugar syrup.

Arrange the peel on a wire rack set over a tray or dish and leave to stand in a cool, airy place for one week until the peel no longer feels tacky.

This year I’ve experimented with the dehydrator and found a few hours at a low temperature worked fine.

Day Fourteen

Slice the dry peel into finger width strips.

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie (or heatproof bowl over a saucepan of water).

Dip the peel strips either half or fully into the chocolate (your preference) and set back on the wire rack to cool.

Pack between sheets of waxed paper and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 550g.

Minimum waste notes:

*Keep the flesh in the fridge and you’ll be able to enjoy a pre-peeled vitamin C boost for the next couple of days.

*If you’re making jam or marmalade, remember the pith of an orange contains most of its pectin. Put this in a muslin bag and add to the boiling liquid to help improve the set.

**There are lots of uses you can put the orangey sugary syrup to. Enjoy it on your porridge, sweeten a hot chocolate drink, or it can be the sugar syrup in a cocktail or fruit salad.

How to Preserve Lemon Peel – instructions from Nostradamus

Take the whole lemon and, according to size, cut it lengthways into six or seven parts or pieces, so that each segment is at least two fingers’ width. When you have chopped it up, fill an earthenware (or any other kind of) pot with water. Peel the skin from the pieces, making sure that there is no flesh attached; take care, too, that the peel is not too thick and is as long as the lemon. Then throw it into the said pot. If you want to preserve the flesh, the pieces must be somewhat thicker, but everything must be properly washed. Do not, though, throw away the pips and the bits but throw away the water and replace it with fresh, add a handful of salt and let it stand for a couple of days. Then change the water and pour two or three fresh lots over the pieces and then a further one and let it stand for a whole day. Each morning pour fresh water over them and go on doing that for nine days. On the ninth day put the vessel onto the fire and at first let it simmer slowly, then bring it to the boil until you see that it is possible to stick a needle through the pieces. Take care, however, when you are boiling the flesh with the peel, that you remove them during the first boiling, otherwise they would be boiled too hard. When you have well and truly boiled everything and it has become a little stiff, take it off the fire and lift it out of the water with a perforated ladle on to a white cloth. Make sure that it is on the dry side, but treat it with care, so that it does not tear. When it has dried a little and cooled down, take as much sugar as you see fit. If there are two pounds of peel or pieces, use fine sugar and if you want to preserve them in the best possible manner, dissolve the sugar in water. There should not, however, be too much water, only as much as the quantity of sugar requires, and when it is ready, do not refine or clarify it, but allow it or the honey to reduce to a rather thick syrup. Whatever you do, do not burn it, for anyone who is not accustomed to doing this may easily burn it. Once it has reduced to a thick syrup, let it cool before putting into the glass container with the peel. Leave it there until the following morning, when you will notice that the peel and the pieces of lemon are giving off a moisture on account of the sugar and that the sugar is therefore more like a watery soup. Then boil the sugar without the peel and let it stay there for three days. When that time has elapsed, boil it again if necessary and deal with it as on the previous occasion, but you will have to wait until the end of the month to find out how it turned out. Note, however, that if you put it into a glass container, you must let it boil completely and then it will keep for a long time. If, however, you put it into an earthenware vessel, you should boil the sugar or honey somewhat more vigorously and leave more moisture in it, for no matter whether the vessel is glazed or not, the clay is constantly wearing away, which glass does not do. You can use this method with all other things you may wish to preserve with sugar. If you want to preserve bitter-orange or lime peel in sugar, then you must go about it as I have described for lemons. If, however, you want to preserve them in honey or boiled wine, you must do so in an altogether different way, as you will see when we come to that.

Ref, ‘The Elixirs of Nostradamus: Nostradamus’ original recipes for elixirs, scented water, beauty potions and sweetmeats’ Edited by Knut Boeser, published by Bloomsbury. 1995

Originally published in French in 1552.

Translated by Dr Hieremias Martius in 1572 (original now in the Austrian National Library in Vienna)

For the 1995 version, the text has been modernised to make it more readable.