A home without marmalade is somehow incomplete

Glowing orange marmalade, with its distinctive tangy flavour, occupies a special place in our affections. Marmalade has long been an essential on breakfast tables throughout our region.

Few food items give rise to as much debate as marmalade; preferences include, thick peel, thin peel, no peel at all, a little sweeter or a touch more bitter – we all have our opinion. It has been said that a house with marmalade is somehow, incomplete.

'Marmelada'

Our affection for marmalade dates back centuries. The word originates from marmelada, the Portuguese word for a quince paste. Marmelada was exported to Britain in Tudor times. At that time, thick, solid pastes made from lemons and bitter oranges began to be imported from Spain and Portugal into Britain and were known as ‘marmalades’. Funnily enough, I heard recently that Queen Elizabeth I hadn’t a tooth left in her head as a result of eating jam. Orange marmalade, in the form we know today, came about in the 18th century, with Scotland credited as the country of creation.

The basic material of marmalade is, of course, oranges - Saville oranges to be exact, a particularly bitter variety of the fruit. Marmalade would never have come into being in the first place without the introduction and the addition of sugar. In the 700s, the Arabs brought sugar cane to the Mediterranean, and in the 1400s Christopher Columbus took sugar cane to the West Indies. By the 17th and 18th centuries, most European countries were importing sugar from their colonies.

More recently, Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed marmalade made with oranges which came from the south of Spain. It was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who started the tradition of sending the British Royal Family bitter oranges. Was she saying something other than “make marmalade”.

Scotland 

I have always wondered how Scotland came to be credited as “the country of creation” when it comes to marmalade, with Dundee being recognised as the home of marmalade. If you ever wondered how all this came about, Jenny Linford, writing for Rosebud Preserves in Yorkshire seems to have the answer.

The story goes that a Scottish grocer named James Keiller bought a bargain batch of bitter oranges from a Spanish boat sheltering in Dundee Harbour. His mother Janet Keiller chopped the oranges and boiled the peel with sugar. Rather than boiling the mixture down until it formed a solid paste, however, she reduced the cooking time creating a spreadable ‘marmalade’ which could be eaten on toast. 

In 1797, the Keiller family built the first marmalade factory in Dundee. They enjoyed considerable success – shipping their marmalade around the world to countries including Australia, India and South Africa. Keiller’s Dundee Orange Marmalade was one of the early brands to be registered when the 1876 British Trademark Registry Act was passed.

World famous, Robertson’s Marmalade, was established in 1864 when Mrs Robertson started making marmalade in the family grocery shop in Paisley, Scotland. The result was clear and tangy Golden Shred marmalade which over the years has become the best-selling marmalade in the UK. Robertson’s Marmalade also had royal links and were awarded a Royal Warrant, initially by King George V in 1933, and subsequently by both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. Marmalade prices soared following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who during her lifetime had publicly declared her love of the golden tangy preserve.

Oh Golly!

James Robertson & Sons began using the Golliwog doll as its trademark in the early 1900s. By 1910, the Golly appeared on Robertson's product labels, price lists, and advertising material. Its appeal led to an enormously popular mail order campaign: in return for 'Golly' tokens from their marmalade, Robertson's sent badges of Gollies playing various sports. The first brooch was the Golly Golfer in 1928. 

In 1939, the popular brooch series was discontinued because the metal was needed for the war effort, but by 1946 the Golly returned. Despite much criticism during the 1960s and '70s (when the word ‘wog’ was seen as a racial slur), they simply changed their logo's name to 'Golly', and continued to stand by their trusty mascot.

Despite Robertson’s claim that they have a long been associated with Paddington Bear, who replaced Golly as their mascot, such is not the case. Paddington first arrived on the scene in 1958 but the recently created link with Paddington does serve two purposes for Robertson’s. Firstly, it signals a departure from their unfortunate racist link and secondly, it helps to forge a relationship with a younger marmalade buying public. It seems, of the people who buy marmalade, 80% are over 45 years of age. So these days, Paddington doesn’t just like marmalade sandwiches, he favours Robertson’s Golden Shred marmalade sandwiches.

Old Time Irish 

While much of the marmalade tradition is British, here in Ireland we have our own version of the story. Fruitfield’s Old Time Irish marmalade recipes can be traced all the way back to 1886 when Lamb Brothers started making Jams and Marmalades for the Irish market. Harrington Foods takes up the story of a company whose selection of marmalades are market leaders to this day.

Charles and Charlotte Lamb arrived in Ireland in the 1880s from Oxfordshire. Charles came first to work at the Richardson’s linen mill in Bessbrook before taking the opportunity to acquire some farmland near Richhill in the county of Armagh, where the young couple started making jam with the fruit they grew on the farm. From these small beginnings they developed the fruit preserving business that became known throughout Ireland as Fruitfield. The family and the business moved to Dublin in 1922.

Laird’s of Drumshanbo, under the Bo Peep brand name, were a more local jam and marmalade manufacturer. At one point, Lairds were producing over 30 tonnes of jam and marmalade during each eight-hour shift and their products were gracing breakfast tables, not just in the West of Ireland but in countries throughout Europe and the Middle East as well as the USA and Canada. The premises closure in 1998 lead to a loss of 100 jobs in the local community.

Christmas gift idea 

My father loved his marmalade. It was a regular item on his shopping list on Fridays, when he cycled to collect his old age pension. Old Time Irish was his favourite. I think he bought it as much for the name as for the taste. The purty little pot took pride of place in the kitchen cabinet and while we were all allowed to enjoy it, it was in the unspoken knowledge that it was very much his marmalade. I think of him always whenever I see Old Time Irish on a supermarket shelf.

This Christmas, why not buy someone the gift of a pot of quality marmalade? If you get such a gift, savour it. Keep it for that special breakfast, share it with good friend. Spread it on your finest brown bread toast, enjoying its tangy taste with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Marmalade has a long tradition and it deserves its place in any culinary Hall of Fame, in any home, because a house without marmalade is somehow… incomplete.