Marmalade

Early history In the 1500s, marmalade was made from quince, and was imported to England from Spain and Italy. The quince jam or quince cheese, was a firm, sticky, sweet reddish hard paste made by slowly cooking quince fruit with sugar, and is still made today. A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts '', pages 78–79|alt=The tan colored book of Mary Kettilby's, A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts, pages 78 and 79.The first printed recipe for orange marmalade, though without the chunks typically used now, The Scots were the people who made marmalade a breakfast item. James Boswell and Samuel Johnson were given it at breakfast while in Scotland in 1773. In the 19th century, the English followed suit and began to eat marmalade in the morning. The American writer Louisa May Alcott visited Britain, and later described "a choice pot of marmalade and a slice of cold ham" to be "essentials of English table comfort". == Etymology ==

Actual The word marmalade in the English language comes from French which, in turn, came from the Portuguese word . According to José Pedro Machado's , the oldest known document where this Portuguese word is to be found is Gil Vicente's play Comédia de Rubena, written in 1521: : () : () The Portuguese word comes from the Latin or "a sweet apple", The name originated in the 16th century from Middle French and Portuguese, where applied to quince jam. The English recipe book of Eliza Cholmondeley, dated from 1677 and held at the Chester Record Office in the Cheshire county archives, has one of the earliest marmalade recipes ("Marmelet of Oranges") which produced a firm, thick dark paste. Folk According to a Scottish legend, the creation of orange marmalade in the Scottish city of Dundee occurred by accident. The legend tells of a ship carrying a cargo of oranges that broke down in the port, resulting in some ingenious locals making marmalade out of the cargo. Since then, the city has had a long association with marmalade. However, this legend was "decisively disproved by food historians", according to a New York Times report. A folk etymology asserts that Mary, Queen of Scots ate marmalade as a treatment for seasickness, and that the name is derived from her maids' whisper of ('Ma'am is ill'), though the word's origin has nothing to do with Mary. == Creation ==

Recipe Common ingredients Marmalade is made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. It can be made from bitter orange, lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots, blood oranges, clementines, kumquats, navel oranges, citrus taiwanica, or a combination. Citrus is the most typical choice of fruit for marmalade, though historically the term has often been used for non-citrus preserves. in addition to the fruit also having tart flesh and rough skin. There is needed a balance between fruit acid and the pectin. Fruits with normally low pectin, like strawberries, cherries, and figs, have it added to make the marmalade a jelly. Process There are generally five steps of the creation of citrus marmalade: washing, peeling, pre-treatment for peel (de-bittering and sugar-dipping), mixing, and boiling. White sugar has traditionally been used as the main sweetener in marmalades, although sugar substitutes, such as sucralose and saccharin may be used. The choice of sugar substitute depends partly on heat stability, texture effect, and aftertaste. Serving Marmalade can be served at room temperature or slightly colder. Some bitter orange marmalade can last for up to 6 months after opened, while some only lasts until 3. Marmalade can be served on toast, cookies, biscuits, smoothies, and other bakery products. == Characteristics ==

Marmalade has a sweet and tangy taste, with a texture similar to jam. Citrus peel is a main ingredient of marmalade which contains not only numerous functional constituents but also gives the product a different aroma. Some demand for healthier marmalade, like lowered calories, has been observed in some consumer groups. == Commerce ==

Production companies in 1874|alt=A black and white portrait of Scottish grocer James Robertson in 1874.|227x227px James Keiller and his mother, Janet, ran a small sweet and preserves shop in the Seagate area of Dundee. The Frank Cooper Oxford Marmalade manufacturing business sold marmalade in 1874. It started out first for just for Oxford students, but the business expanded all over England and abroad. Robertson's was founded in 1864 by James and Marion Robertson in Paisley, Renfrewshire. The business was known for making Golden Shred marmalade. Today, it no longer exists, and is now owned by Premier Foods, though they still make the same product Golden Shred. Market As of 2021, the international market for jams and preserves was US$8.46 billion. Global value has been projected to increase in the future with almost US$9.90 billion expected in 2027, with an average annual growth of about 3.5% between now and then. == Legal definitions ==

North America Under the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870), marmalade is a standardised food and defined as a food of jelly-like composition that consists of at least 65% water-soluble solids. The regulations permit the use of pH adjusting agents to prevent the marmalade from dehydration, antifoaming agents to prevent blemishes on surface coatings and enable efficient filling of containers, and an acid ingredient to compensate for the natural acidity of the citrus fruit used. If pectin is added, the marmalade must contain at least 27% of peel, pulp, or juice of citrus fruit. Class II preservatives may also be used. The Canadian Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870) specify that pineapple or fig marmalade must be of jelly-like consistency, achieved by boiling the pulp of juice of the fruit with water, and a sweetening ingredient. Pineapple or fig marmalade should contain at least 45% of the named fruit. Europe EU food labelling regulations formerly restricted "marmalade" to preserves made from citrus fruits, The term "marmalade" has been replaced by "citrus marmalade" in EU regulations specific to citrus. leading to a Euromyth that marmalade would have to be labelled "citrus marmalade" in consequence. == In popular culture ==

Paddington Bear 's marmalade-themed Paddington Bear statue in London, auctioned to raise funds for the NSPCC |alt=John Hurt's marmalade-themed Paddington Bear statue in London holding his hat up off his head.|300x300px The fictional character Paddington Bear is known for his liking of marmalade, particularly in sandwiches, since he keeps it in his hat wherever he goes. Paddington Bear is now used on the label of the smaller peel ("shred") and clearer/milder Robertson's "Golden Shred" marmalade, in place of the previous icon, the "Golliwog", because it was considered racially offensive. The 2014 movie Paddington led to a slight increase in marmalade sales in the United Kingdom. Other mentions In Agatha Christie's 1953 detective novel A Pocket Full of Rye, the first victim of the murderer is given poison hidden in orange marmalade consumed at breakfast. In Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility, an over-indulgent mother feeds apricot marmalade to her fussy three-year-old child who has been slightly scratched by a pin in the mother's hair. Austen in irony of this states, "that she could taste no greater delight than in making a fillagree basket for a spoilt child". == See also == • Murabba, whole fruit preserve • List of spreads, the list of spreads • Succade, candied citrus peel, especially that of the citron • Zest (ingredient), citrus ingredient == References ==