Cranberry Relish

[CosmicMiami]

I know I posted something similar a couple years ago.

The easiest Cran Relish is the processed cranberries, oranges, and some sugar. I will be substituting some Vermont maple syrup instead of the sugar.

All the recipes I see include just puttting the orange wedges into the processor without removing the pith. I just spent about 20 minutes carefully removing the fruit and the pith from the rind.

Not sure why these recipes say to include the entire wedge.

Are we relying on the orange fruit, the cranberry, and the sweetener to mask the bitterness of the pith?

Haven't done a taste test between the two. Perhaps that could be something left for the food scientists!

Thoughts?

[IowaGirl]

IMO the pith of an orange peel has little or no taste. The entire peel is used, pith and zest, in other treats such as marmalade and candied orange peel with no real downside to the flavor.

I suspect the reason why whole oranges are used in cranberry-orange relish is because there's little or no downside to doing so. As you say, it takes a long time to dissect an orange. If there's no flavor benefit, why bother?

[IowaGirl]

"...The pith ... can be very bitter on a grapefruit, but it's often kind of bland on an orange...." https://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eat...at-orange-pith


"...The Grapefruit pith was very bitter and sharp on my tongue.... The Orange pith was pretty much tasteless... The Lemon’ pith was slightly bitter... Limes ... pith ... did not seem bitter to me..." Source: https://www.21stcenturysimpleliving....rus-pith-myth/

[Dewesq55]

I have been doing the whole orange in wedges for 30 years and my mother for 50 before that. Nobody every complained that it was "bitter" due to orange If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as my father used to say. Cranberry orange relish is the #1 thing I am asked to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner every year.

[CosmicMiami]

Thanks for the replies. I'll just process the wedges.

[IowaGirl]

I hope it works out -- let us know what you think. Food is such an individual thing, so a dish that tastes fine to me might not be so tasty for you.