The Japanese ambassador raved about the daffodils and the glorious spring sunshine and the Australian envoy joked about beating the Poms at their own game, while a life-sized Paddington waved and clapped.
On the steps of a centuries-old country house in northwest England, one of the nation’s most eccentric cultural events — the Dalemain World Marmalade Awards — was in full swing.
Inside, in an oak-paneled room lined with portraits of family ancestors, winning jars of the quintessentially British fruit preserve covered every surface.
Photo: AFP
“Excellent marmalade, just cloudy,” read one judge’s report card.
“Good colour and set,” read another.
“Jar should be filled to the top,” said a third.
Every January and February, when bitter Seville oranges from Spain are available for a few short weeks, marmalade makers shut themselves away in their kitchens to chop, pulp and boil.
Many of those homemade marmalades — along with other non-Seville marmalades from as far afield as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and Hawaii — wind their way to Dalemain, which this year received just fewer than 3,000 pots of the sweet, sticky condiment.
This year’s competition featured 17 categories, including entries from a Taiwanese orphanage in the children’s section and a US women’s correctional facility in the newly introduced prison’s class.
Made by boiling together the juice and peel of citrus fruits, sugar and water, marmalade as it is now known was pioneered commercially in the late 18th century by the Keiller family of Dundee, Scotland. Spread generously on buttered toast, it is traditionally a staple of British breakfast tables as well the favored sandwich filling of children’s character Paddington, a small bear from “deepest, darkest Peru.”
“We got a silver, which we’re delighted about,” said James Stoddart, a prison rehabilitation worker in northeast England, spotting his jail’s entry adorned with a silver star.
Two prisoners had lobbied to take part, inspired by one of their daughters who loved Paddington, he said, even though neither of them had a clue how to make marmalade.
“You’re not allowed glass inside prisons so we had to really fight to get it in and get it done,” he said, adding that 12 jars were eventually produced, including one that was sent to the little girl.
Founded by Dalemain chatelaine Jane Hasell-McCosh, the awards are held annually at the family’s historic house in the Lake District National Park and have raised more than ￡250,000 (US$315,937) for charity.
From just 60 jars from the local area in 2005, there are now spin-off events also taking place in Japan and Australia.
Atsuko Hayashi, owner of The English Kitchen in Tokyo, said the pastime had changed her life by helping her to “connect with people” globally.
For London-based Danish photographer Henrik Knudsen, marmalade making was “a very English thing” that he had happily adopted since living in the UK.
However, he said getting it right was not an exact science, and the results could be unpredictable.
The clarity could be wrong, the peel might be a bit tough, the texture could be too runny, he said. “That’s the charm of it.”
Marmalade received an unexpected boost during the 2022 celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, when the late monarch took part in a televised comedy sketch with Paddington.
The skit was a welcome reminder of marmalade’s qualities at a time when homemade has never been more popular, said Caroline Hodge, winner of the dark and chunky category.
Mass-produced marmalade had “got sugary and that’s not flavor,” she said, adding that she had reduced the sugar content of a recipe handed down to her by an aunt and added ginger, turmeric and all-spice.
“It’s very emotional because my aunt is no longer here and I’m a bit blown away,” she said.
“It’s not quite Wimbledon, but it’s definitely the Oscars,” she added.
Entries for this year’s competition included a host of unusual ingredients from chillies and seaweed to caviar and smoked pineapple.
Retiring head judge Dan Lepard said the awards were a “broad church” happy to embrace “all the citrus fruits in the world” — not just Seville oranges — as well as unusual flavorings.
For this year’s overall winner, Stephen Snead, the honor comes with the added bonus of having his marmalade commercially produced for a year and sold in luxury London department store Fortnum & Mason.
The 52-year-old English accountant who won with two jars — orange and lime marmalade with red chillies and a lime marmalade with creme de cacao — said he was overwhelmed to be at Dalemain and see “just how far the marmalade family reaches across the world.”
“It’s just an absolute thrill,” he said.
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