Marmalade

Last night we watched the Christmas edition of Great British Menu. So far, so un-controversial. As Nick Nairn presented his take on a seasonal, festive, country-appropriate dessert (a delicious looking version of a sticky steamed pudding) I remarked that I had never tasted the key ingredient, marmalade. This revelation seemed to shock my partner into silence. For a while. After he’d had time to consider the implications of my admission, he decided that I must have been joking¹. He lapsed back into silence when I assured him of my sincerity, only speaking again to reaffirm my ignorance of what is clearly an unmissable spread. “Really?” “Never?” “You mean… you haven’t… ever…?”

Thinking I’d get a more amused reaction from relative strangers on the internet, I tweeted:

I’ve just admitted that I’ve never had marmalade. I think my partner is reconsidering his commitment to our relationship…

The responses I got were along the lines of “You’re kidding!”² “Really?” “Never?” “You mean… you haven’t… ever…?”

I decided I had to give marmalade a try.³

Before logging off for the night, I asked the twitterverse for marmalade recommendations. I noted that Bonne Maman preserves were available locally (Monday morning – I wasn’t planning on going further than the IGA and was hoping to be able to satisfy my breakfast and marmalade needs even closer to home if possible). Reality Raver advised Hank’s, which I’d never heard of and was therefore sure I wouldn’t be able to get easily. The only other advice I received was that I must to find an English marmalade.

Foodworks offered a choice of two brands only. I could buy IXL or Rose’s. If I chose IXL, I could buy a small jar just to get the taste; with Rose’s, I had to decide between “English Breakfast” and “Old English”. The “Old English” looked unappetizingly brown. In the end, I went with Rose’s. The daggy label design and the note “established in 1865″ were reassuring.

It's been around for nearly 150 years, so it must be good, right?

What I like about Rose’s Marmalade

• I could open the jar. (I’m rarely able to open jars. Occasionally the bashing-around-the-edge-of-the-lid-with-a-knife trick works; sometimes I’m able to get them open by heating them up or using rubber bands. Usually, I have to call for help.)
• It’s bitter, but not overwhelmingly so. There’s sweetness in there, too.
• The slivers of orange peel are tender. For some reason, I was expecting to have to gnaw through rubbery – or worse! – fruit.
• It’s not Jŏcalat.

Questions I still have about marmalade in general

• Is Rose’s typical of the style?⁴
• The marmalade I bought is “fine cut”. Should I be going chunky, or whatever is not “fine cut”?
• How thickly do you spread it? Recently I watched people who’d never had vegemite before. They slathered it thickly on toast, as though it was Nutella. They didn’t like it. Mindful of this, I was quite sparing. Is there a standard approach, or do I just experiment as I go?

It's no iSnack 2.0...

1. His expectations of my sense of humour are obviously quite low if he thinks that “I’ve never had marmalade” would be an attempt at witty repartee.
2. Clearly I am deluded as to the originality of my own wit. See 1, substituting pronouns accordingly.
3. One respondent did suggest that, under the circumstances, he’d “be contrary and refuse to eat any marmalade.” Ordinarily, I quite like this approach, but decided that I could be cutting off my nose to spite my face, just as I was when I refused to read “The Old Man And The Sea” only because it had been so heartily – and regularly; it was the regularity that did it – recommended to me by my mother.
4. Since getting my marmalade home, I’ve discovered that the company is owned by Heinz. Perhaps I wouldn’t have bought it had I known this, but I can’t exactly explain why. All in all, I’m rather glad of my ignorance at the time.

Related posts:

1. I think I’ve discovered pure brown…
2. Shanghai and Beijing – one mouthful at a time
3. A short Sydney break

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