The global tradition of placing oranges in Christmas stockings embodies the spirit of giving and celebration: the orange is thought to represent small bags of gold after an old legend of St Nicholas, a story that reflects the spirit of generosity and the joy of giving although it is told in different ways around the world.
In essence, one winter’s night St Nicholas came across a sad man who worked hard but with three daughters to support, could not afford to provide them with a dowry. Without money with which to wed, these young girls faced a life of sorrow and hardship. St Nicholas understood the family’s plight, but realised the man would not accept charity. In order to help, while the family slept, St Nicholas threw a bag of gold through an open window into the house. The bag of gold miraculously landed in a stocking that had been hung by the fireplace to dry. This he did three times over. On the third occasion the father woke to discover their mysterious benefactor: the saint asked him not to reveal his identity and to give thanks to God instead. This story is often cited as the origin of the tradition of Christmas stockings, and the delivery of gifts by Santa Claus.
Trees bearing the sweet orange fruit were introduced to the Mediterranean area by Italian and Portuguese merchants in the late 15th century or the early 16th century, and the orange became a highly-treasured exotic fruit across medieval Europe. As oranges and mandarins ripened as winter drew close, giving oranges became a Christmas tradition and so I headed to Gozo’s North coast and the San Blas valley in Nadur, Gozo, an area famed for being Malta’s best citrus valley, to find out more.
“The Arabs first planted trees here,” says Antonella Vassallo. “Choosing this valley as the perfect place to grow citrus fruits because it is so close to the sea and the sea breeze gives the fruit a richer depth of flavour. Around 100 years ago, my great-grandfather planted our family trees which my grandfather and father continue to farm. The different fruit varieties were planted on separate terraces according to whether they were naturally very dry or were watered naturally by local springs. There were seven families of fruit farmers in the valley when my great-grandfather was first farming here and together they created irrigation channels using simple gravity.”
The mulberries all come from a huge tree that’s over 100 years old
Although he grew up in Victoria, these old citrus groves are now her husband Mark Vassallo’s passion. He, however, is using the fruit harvested in the valley to handmake small runs of artisanal liqueurs. Although also a Gozitan, he was living in New York when he met Antonella through mutual friends one Christmas when he was home visiting relatives, a story that resonates with the romance of the festive season: there everything was big, bold and commercial, and so he relishes the peace of the valley and the joy of setting up a family venture.
“I began making homemade limoncello about four years ago, experimenting in my basement lab to get the very best flavour,” he explains, “I gave bottles to our friends and family for Christmas. Everyone loved it and so San Blas Groves liqueurs was born, and it has grown from there into a small-scale enterprise with a number of flavours including limoncello, mandarincello and pomegranate.”
You would expect the latter to be the most bitter variety. However, instead, San Blas Groves brand new addition to the range earns that accolade: it’s a no sugar limoncello, specifically designed with diabetics in mind.
“We make all the varieties the traditional way, with love and without any machines,” Mark continues. “This is to maximise the natural flavour of the fruit. We use the fruit from the valley which is grown organically, and we don’t add any additional colour or preservatives so everything is totally natural. We peel the lemons by hand and with precision so that there is no pith, and then the peel is infused in alcohol for over a month and finely filtered. It takes much longer than a mechanised process but that’s what makes our liqueurs special. And while for citrus flavours we only use the zest, for the prickly pear, mulberry and pomegranate liqueurs, we use the fruit itself.”
“When Mark is making the pomegranate and mulberry mix, he comes home all blue and red as if he has been in a fight,” laughs Antonella. “And when he is working with prickly pears he’s full of thorns but I tell him it’s worth the sacrifice. I particularly love the Mulberry liqueur which is the sweetest of the flavours. Although we have 350 fruit trees in the valley, the mulberries all come from a huge tree that’s over 100 years old, and I remember climbing it every summer as a child to pick and eat the fruit. At Christmas, as a liqueur, mulberry is a great addition to a glass of Prosecco.
“While limoncello is the classic apéritif or digestif, Mark’s pomegranate liqueur is a lovely rich red that adds a pop of colour to a glass of gin, and if you top up a limoncello with a layer of the pomegranate, the two don’t mix and it looks beautiful, like a sunset. Of course, limoncello is also great in any number of traditional Christmas desserts from cakes to trifles and our downstairs neighbour makes the most delicious ones across the whole islands!”
Apparently the recipe is a closely-guarded secret but there are plenty of highly-rated options online. I can also recommend orange liqueur cream with your flambé Christmas pudding: simply add a tablespoon of sugar to a cup fresh orange juice and boil the mixture until it has reduced to about a quarter of the original volume. Then when it is cool stir in a tablespoon of liqueur and fold in a cup of whipped cream. It’s an absolute treat for the tastebuds and a fitting final flourish at the Christmas feast.