Spoon Sweet Bitter Orange (nerantzi)

We wash and dry the fruits and then grate them with a fine cheese grater to remove the most of the zest. We can keep some just to maintain the special aroma (flavour) of the fruit.

We cut the top and bottom of the fruit, divide each vertically into 4 pieces and carefully remove the flesh. Now we have 32 peels (pieces).

We roll each peel and with a needle and thread we make with the rolls a necklace.

We place them in a large bowl and cover them with tub water. We leave them overnight changing the water at least twice.

Next morning, we strain the rolls and boil them in fresh water for 10 minutes. We strain them once again, place them on a kitchen towel and remove the thread.

We prepare the syrup by boiling the water and the sugar for 5 minutes. Carefully we place the rolls into the pot and let them boil in medium heat until the syrup thickens, about 30 minutes. Before we turn the heat off, we add the lemon juice.

We let the spoon sweet cool down for a few hours. Then we turn the heat on again and when the syrup starts to boil, we turn it off. After a few minutes we transfer the rolls into sterilised jars and fill them up with the syrup which is still hot. We close the jars when the contents have cooled.

The sweet is traditionally served on small glass dishes and accompanies a cup of Greek coffee. Try it also with Greek yogurt! You will love it.