Did You Know: Marmalade?

 by Nathaniel G

The word “marmalade” comes from the Portuguese word “marmelo”, which is a paste made out of quinces, a fruit similar to pears.

 

Marmalade contains the skin of the fruit as opposed to jam, which doesn’t.

 

The majority of marmalade is orange based. It was invented hundreds of years ago in Scotland. A grocer called James Keiller bought barrels of bitter oranges from  a Spanish boat sheltering in Dundee harbour, and made up a new recipe. He was able to buy the fruit cheaply, as the cargo would have otherwise rotted during a fierce storm.

 

A famous shop called Fortnum and Mason in London stocks the widest range of marmalade in the UK,  which includes the flavours kumquat, lemon-and-rose-petal and lime.  It also sells ‘ Lucifer’s marmalade’, flavoured with chilli.

 

Captain Scott took supplies of marmalade when he set out to explore the Antarctic in 1910. Many years later, one jar of it was found buried in the ice alongside expedition equipment.  

 

Edmund Hillary took a jar of marmalade with him when he climbed Everest in 1953.

 

Paddington’s Aunt Lucy taught him to make marmalade sandwiches, and he always followed his Peruvian uncle’s advice and kept one under his hat in case of emergencies. Unlike the Queen who kept one in her handbag.

 

A company called Duerr made the most expensive marmalade. It contained whisky, champagne and gold leaf and was placed in a crystal jar. The whole thing cost just over £5000; or nearly £80 a serving.

 

Orange-coloured cats are often known as marmalade cats. Animal behaviourists have found them to be the most friendly. Must be all the sugar.