Hello there. I am very fond of jams (not the traffic type but the sweet ones), and among my favourites is the blackcurrant jam from South Africa. I am also partial to strawberry and apple jams. Before 2014 goes away, I bring your attention to
something I noticed on the breakfast table this morning. A “Three Fruit Marmalade” which, by the way, I found to be very delectable. Out of curiosity, I examined the bottle and
label, and discovered that it contained three citrus fruits, grapefruit, oranges
and lemon.
This particular three fruit marmalade from England got me puzzled a bit, as I have always thought that marmalade
was made from oranges. Maybe this
was because, where I grew up, we had only the orange marmalade all the
time. Dundee from Scotland produces a very well known orange marmalade since 1797.
A check with some of the best known English dictionaries
revealed that marmalade is made from mainly orange but other citrus fruits are
also used.
The Concise
Oxford Dictionary, “ a preserve of
citrus fruits, usually, bitter oranges, made like jam”.
Macmillan English Dictionary
for Advanced Learners. “a sweet food
made from cooked fruits such as oranges or lemons that is usually spread
onto bread and eaten at breakfast.
Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English, ”a jam made from fruit such as oranges, lemons or
grapefruit, usually eaten at breakfast.”
I like this one from Cassell’s
English Dictionary, “a jam or preserve prepared from fruit, especially
oranges or lemons, boiled with the sliced rind.”
Lastly, one from the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the
English Language, “ a jellylike
preserve in which small pieces of fruit
and fruit rind, as of oranges, lemons, etc., are suspended.”
There you are, the next time you go to the supermarket, look for the ‘Three Fruit’ type. Or the other citrus fruits beside orange.
For a detailed write up on marmalades http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmalade would be a good start. It does give an
indication as to why some of us in the British Commonwealth countries take it
for granted that marmalade is made from orange only. The famous marmalade from Dundee Scotland is made from orange.
