Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)

Chios nerantzi glyko koutaliou is bitter orange peel rolled into small, tight coils and kept in syrup until the peel turns glossy and tender. It belongs to the citrus gardens of Kampos, where the fruit is not decoration. The peel is the sweet, the perfume, and the little bite at the end.

The whole dish depends on the blanching. Bitter orange is not a sweet orange having a difficult day; its peel carries a sharpness that must be drawn out through several waters. Boil it once and the syrup stays harsh. Boil it too long and you lose the flower of the fruit. Three short blanchings give you the clean bitterness Greek spoon sweets are meant to have.

I keep the coils plain, as the Chios women who wrote them into my notebook did: peel, sugar, water, lemon, and sometimes a leaf of arbaroriza, scented geranium. Nothing more is needed. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, and this one rewards a steady hand more than a clever one.