Joan Nathan, Jewish cookbook author, once wrote in her “Jewish Holiday Cookbook”: Embalm it! The purpose, then, is to make a spice box for Havdala.
Make multiple perforations with a pointed, narrow tool. Insert hard, dry, whole cloves into the etrog, up to but not including the heads, allowing each clove to touch the next. When it is completely covered, expose it to the air, preferably in the sun, for several days. When the fruit begins to harden, line an etrog box with cloves and place the clove-studded etrog in the box and close.
Or try one of these delicious recipes.
Etrog Liqueur
- 6 peeled etrogim, juiced and chopped finely
- 19 ounces brandy
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ t. cinnamon
- ½ t. coriander
1. Squeeze juice into a jar. Add chopped etrogim, brandy, sugar, cinnamon and coriander.
2. Leave to infuse for 2 months. Strain pieces after 1 month.
Online I found another recipe, I like better:
- 2-3 etrogim, peeled and chopped
- 3 cups vodka
- 1½ cups sugar
1. Place pieces in a jar with 2 cups vodka. Leave in a jar for 48 hours. Strain.
2. Add sugar and 1 cup vodka. Keep in a dark place 6-8 weeks.
Etrog Jam
- 1 etrog
- 1 orange
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup sugar for every cup of fruit
1. Wash fruit, cut in halves to remove seeds. Cut in thin slices and halve. Soak in a bowl of water overnight.
2. Pour into a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Drain off water. Bring to a boil again. Pour off any water. Add 1 cup sugar for every cut of fruit.
3. Cook 30 minutes. Cool and pour into jars and seal. Refrigerate.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/editor of nine kosher cookbooks and food writer for North American Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem, where she leads weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.
