Marmalade Choice in the UK

[slacker]

Well I tried. The curlywuryfi pot remains in London.

I breakfasted at The Fox and Anchor, near Smithfield, and then at The Wolseley (same morning), but it was not until Wednesday that I came across this in Balham:-

It followed excellent egg and bacon chez Godmother (free range Wiltshire - a farm near Swindon with clearly good marketing). Oddly, the Fox and Anchor egg arrived broken.

Edited May 20, 2004 by slacker (log)

[andiesenji]

3. Rose's Lime

I have to second the motion for Rose's Lime Marmalade.

It is my favorite commercial marmalade. On an English muffin with real butter - Heaven.

I make a lot of marmalade because I use it in cooking and making condiments.

Home grown ginger marmalade or a combination of ginger/lemon, ginger/lime or ginger/orange are probably my favorite homemades.

Since Seville oranges are seldom seen in California markets, I get the canned Seville oranges at Cost Plus World Market and combine it with fresh quince, about 1/4 quince to 3/4 orange.

The middle eastern market in town carries quince when they are no longer available in the regular markets. The quince tempers the bitterness of the orange just enough.

If I have the time and the inclination I will make a trip to Ojai, Calif. where one grower sells the little sour oranges which are the rootstock onto which most oranges are grafted. They make an interesting marmalade.

I make marmalade wih the ruby red grapefruit sold by the box at Costco.

I have made my own lime marmalade but it is not as good as Rose's.

I did make a lemon/lime marmalade that was pretty good.

I tried making marmalade using blood oranges and Meyer lemons but it was a bit too sweet.

ditto the kumquat marmalade I used to make when I had a tree that bore heavily every other year. I never did get the taste exactly right.

I generally use a crockpot for cooking the marmalade.

I have seen a lot of recipes for marmalades made with non-citrus fruits, peach, pear, pineapple, and at one Farmer's Market a vendor had a sign advertising 15 types of marmalade, 10 flavors of fruit curds, 10 fruit butters, etc. Most of the marmalades I would consider jam but that is just my opinion.

[BettyK]

I generally use a crockpot for cooking the marmalade. 

Sounds interesting. Could you give us a few more details? Do you just dump everything in the crockpot or do you start on the stove first? High or low setting? And any other tips you may have would be much appreciated.

[andiesenji]

I generally use a crockpot for cooking the marmalade. 

Sounds interesting. Could you give us a few more details? Do you just dump everything in the crockpot or do you start on the stove first? High or low setting? And any other tips you may have would be much appreciated.

I remove the peel from citrus, simmer for 10 minutes in three changes of water (total of 30 minutes) then set aside until cool.

I then cut it into fine strips.

I press the pulp through a food mill to remove the membrane and seeds.

For each pound of peel I use 1 1/2 pounds of sugar and add enough water to the juice/pulp mixture to make up 2 cups.

I put everything into the crockpot and turn it to high and let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours, until the peel is very tender and appears translucent. Thicker peel, such as grapefruit may take an additional 1/2 hour. I test it by putting a spoonful in a saucer and letting it cool, If it sets up so it doesn't run off the saucer when tipped, it is done.

There are numerous recipes for marmalades on various web sites. I rarely follow recipes exactly. I generally use them for ideas. I have been making these for so long that I generally just eyeball it. Check the archives on homecooking.about.com or nikibone.com. They even have carrot marmalade.

To get the peel from citrus, cut off the top and bottom, using a spoon with a rounded tip, such as a soup spoon, work the spoon down between the rind and the flesh first from one end and then from the other. When completely free, make a single cut down one side and you can flatten the entire peel in one long strip. Makes it every easy to cut. I use this method to cut peel for candying. Once you get the knack of this you can go through a dozen in short ov

[andiesenji]

To get the peel from citrus, cut off the top and bottom, using a spoon with a rounded tip, such as a soup spoon, work the spoon down between

This should read as follows:

To get the peel from citrus, cut off the top and bottom. Then, using a spoon with a rounded tip, such as a soup spoon, work the spoon down between

[Tom Sulston]

Gidleigh Park marmalade. It's a funny texture: being simultaneously runny and very coarsely-cut. But it tastes fantastic - not a note of unpleasant bitterness at all.

But then again, marmalade's a bit like tea - the best is the one you make yourself. :-)

[BettyK]

Thanks, Andiesenji. Will give it a try.

[slacker]

Some things just won't go away. And certain board members have such willpower - however could curlywurlyfi not have eaten the pot of marmade if have just started in a bacon-sandwiches-with-marmalade-after-rowing feeding frenzy? Even the Rev. P.B. was unable to resist.

And how on earth does mummy get such a good set? And how, well, traditional to be topped with wax! It's dark, bitter, chunky and with plenty of offset sweetness. YUMYUMYUMYUMYUM. And thanks indeed. It was well worth the wait.

[marlena spieler]

lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon.

from sicily. delish.

also lime, good ol roses lime is okay, though it has too much jellied stuff and not enough limey stuff. still, love it.

marlena

[MobyP]

And how on earth does mummy get such a good set? And how, well, traditional to be topped with wax! It's dark, bitter, chunky and with plenty of offset sweetness. YUMYUMYUMYUMYUM. And thanks indeed. It was well worth the wait.

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I agree. I've had some great home made marmalades, but Mrs. Curly's is tops.

[curlywurlyfi]

oh, that is really lovely of you both, my mama blushes. I used the last half inch of my last pot (I'm not counting the jar of her in my view ill-advised grapefruit variation) over the weekend on a polenta muffin. With bacon. (Yes, slacker, I know!)

it occurs to me that if I give away enough of it I'll have to make Mum into a brand and put her photo on the product, like Uncle Ben or (god forbid) Ronald Mcdonald. We'll then have to call it (brace yourselves) mama-lade.

Fi

[slacker]

I bought a jar labelled Marmalade 2004 from a farm table just outside Port Isaac.

Got home, bacon sarnie, and no!

It's made with tinned Mamade oranges. Filthy cheats.

oh no, slacker, that's extremely shabby behaviour. to redress the karmic balance (what??), I would be prepared to sacrifice a jar of my mum's marmalade (it would be the smallest jar, of course, I'm not entirely altruistic). are you going to be in London in the next few months?

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Yes.

[erica graham]

My mother-in-law is my source for favourite marmalades, so much so that she now knows the rules about visitation rights to granddaughter

1st bring jar of marmelade!

I like it best on my husbands homemade sourdough bread, still hot out of the oven!!

(I think I'll have to go now for "second breakfast")

[UkFoodie]

I made (to rave reviews must add) last year a Marrow and Lemon Thyme Marmalade. People could not tell it was marrow.... Fun indeed!

[culinary bear]

Every year for the last few years I've made a large batch of marmalade. This year's batch was made with organic Sevilles from the Unicorn grocery in Chorlton, and Billington's unrefined organic caster sugar. To give you some idea of the size of the batch, it's residing in vac-pac bags, because despite two trips to Lakeland, I've insufficient jars for it all.

I'd be willing to release some for eG consumption in return for nothing other than karmic goodness.

[MobyP]

Interestingly, I find myself with a vast excess of karmic goodness (having, rather embarassingly, run out of storage containers), but an almost criminal lack of marmelade.

[curlywurlyfi]

Interestingly, I find myself with a vast excess of karmic goodness (having, rather embarassingly, run out of storage containers), but an almost criminal lack of marmelade.

Does this mean you have scarfed the one I gave you, which came attractively packaged in a... tumbler advertising White Horse whisky, since I too had run out of storage containers???

[culinary bear]

Okay Moby... PM me your address and I shall despatch some :)

[Katie Meadow]

I'm bumping up this thread because I have two marmalade needs and because a lot of posters here are from the UK and might be able to help w/names of mail order sources.

1) I'm working up to making my own marmalade and could use suggestions for recipes. Seville oranges are not very available to me here in Northern California. I deeply love a traditional tangy/bitter orange marmalade, but I like lime too and have also tasted a lemon-lime that I liked very much. (It was a farmers market item and apparently I was the only enthusiast, so that particular marmalade has gone the way of all the other things on the planet that have small fan clubs.)

2) As a back-up I would like to find good options for purchased marmalades.

Some brands mentioned upthread I have tasted, some I will try, but maybe if I qualify what I like it would be helpful: I like thin cut not thick. I don't like it sweet; I prefer tangy/bitter, or maybe even a little burnt tasing. I prefer marmalade that is runny and clear, not thick and cloudy. Perhaps some of these qualities are mutually exclusive--dunno.

So, if anyone has ideas for either recipes, brands or mail order sources I would love to hear about it. Thanks!

[Terrasanct]

Sounds like I should send you a bottle of the dark, bitter, runny, and clear marmalade I just made.

[dougal]

...

So, if anyone has ideas for either recipes, brands or mail order sources I would love to hear about it. Thanks!

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Seville Oranges are one of those things that really do have a particular seasonality.

But they are special - but only partly for that reason!

The recipe that I have used, with great success, is here:

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Processi..._Citrus_Fruits/

My own observations are

- with Sevilles, just chop the flesh a bit, and put it into the 'pips' bag

- I washed the pips bag with a little hot water, and added back the wash water

- to absolutely ensure a good 'set', a small proportion of my sugar is "jam sugar" (with added pectin) - I don't know how important that might be, I just do it to be sure!

- and don't try and skim the froth until you have finished boiling (otherwise you'll remove rather a lot of fruit!

Its well worth doing - especially when the Sevilles appear in the shops - not long to wait now!

[danlepard]

and if you do make some, enter this competition here:

http://www.marmaladefestival.com

Was up there last year and it was extraordinary. Will there be any egullet member entries this year?

Dan

[Gavin Convery]

I don't know whether this qualifies as marmalade but my current favourite is Wilkin's Rhubarb and Ginger (Wilkin's is what people are calling Tiptree - Tiptree is a place just south of where I live ;-)). I could eat buckets of this.

BTW if you are ever in the vicinity of Tiptree, then Wilkin's have an excellent factory shop with lots of unusual and one-off varieties....there is no other reason to go to Tiptree (other than the brilliant butchers).

[bakerestates]

....there is no other reason to go to Tiptree (other than the brilliant butchers).

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and Mr Pacey's Fruit & Veg shop which also sells excellent flour.....oh, and the cheap shop!

[JMillar]

Wilkins Orange & Tangerine is defintiely worth a try. A fine cut marmelade sublte yet tangy perhaps one for summer as opposed to the dark days of winter. As an aside whatever happened to Tangerines? They seem to have been usurped by the ubiquitous Clementine, but are a different thing all together as I recall.