http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9138879/Meeting-the-judges-at-the-Marmalade-Awards.html
Meeting the judges at the Marmalade Awards
A pithy encounter with the judges at this years Marmalade Awards.
By Xanthe Clay
4:10PM GMT 12 Mar 2012
No longer the preserve of the wealthy: the massed marmalade-makers
of Britain step up to the plate at Dalemain
Photo: CHRIS WATT
It was a scene straight out of a modern-day Downton Abbey. In the dark-panelled drawing room of Dalemain Mansion, near Penrith in Cumbria, ladies in smart skirts bustled past long trestles set beneath the ancestral portraits.
But rather than a village fête or a makeshift hospital, this was last weeks Marmalade Awards, instigated seven years ago by Dalemains own Lady Cora, Jane Hasell-McCosh, after reading that marmalade making was on the decline in Britain.
Since the first event, with just a handful of local entries, the awards have blossomed. This year 300 artisan producers entered, as well as more than 1,400 amateurs. And 100 carefully wrapped jars arrived from overseas, including marmalades from Singapore, Japan, Canada and the Philippines.
The success, according to Hasell-McCosh, is that it strikes a note with our cultural heritage that goes back to Roman times. According to the splendidly authoritative Book of Marmalade by C Anne Wilson, the Romans did indeed eat a preserve of quinces in honey called melomeli, from which the word marmalade derives.
There are two main categories in the awards: amateur, including sections for novices, for men and for peers of the realm, and artisan, for small producers. The artisan awards are judged by food historian Ivan Day, food writer Claire Macdonald, and Pam the Jam Corbin, preserves expert for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls River Cottage empire.
Corbin was still hard at it judging the final category, the Marmalade Ashes, or Marmalashes, at a table in front of the fire in the drawing room. The contest between the marmalade makers of the town of Buninyong in Australia and Dalemain is fiercely fought; last year the Australians won by a mere point and a half.
So far this year the Buninyong XII (they play the 12th man) were playing a blinder, but Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, captain of the Dalemain XII, had entered a jar so there was hope for a late rally from the home side.
The team of judges tasted from teaspoons and consulted over a jar made from minced peel, as opposed to hand cut. Im not a fan. I dont like bitty peel, admitted Martin Grant of Mackays marmalade, another judge. There was a murmur of assent around the table. Corbin considered. Its interesting. We dont like minced peel but it does release the flavour.
At a nearby table, Eileen Wilson and Doreen Cameron were chatting to visitors and competitors. As well as judging the amateur section of the awards, tasting every one of the entries, they are national judges for the Womens Institute, a position that requires both a practical and a written exam. Its not enough to know its good. You have to know why its good, said Cameron.
The most common error, Wilson confided in her soft Cumbrian accent, is not cooking the peel enough before the sugar is added, so it goes hard.
The men are the worst for getting their marmalade black and overcooked, added Cameron. While marmalade will darken as it ages, they agreed that in general a beer-bottle brown colour in marmalade comes from adding muscovado sugar or treacle. Or burning. Both women roared with laughter.
Victoria Cranfield of Cranfield Foods, who has won the artisan award for her pink grapefruit marmalade, joined me to admire the amateur contingent. Neatly lined up on the tables, the diversity of jars alone was remarkable: short and tall, round and hexagonal, recycled mayonnaise containers and pesto pots, and ones that might kindly be described as antique.
Beneath each was a cream-coloured scorecard, neatly filled in with marks for clarity, appearance, flavour, and handwritten comments. Most are encouraging, Great flavour! or lovely colour, while a few have pithy codicils, peel could be cooked for longer or use new lids.
Why is it, I wondered, that mass-produced marmalade can never compare to home-made? Cranfield knew the answer. The large manufacturers all use tinned, prepared fruit, so oranges in the marmalade have been processed twice, and it tends to be a sugary conglomeration. You dont get the punch of citrus.
Striding through the oak doors came last years champion of champions, Lord Henley. His recipe was taken and manufactured for Fortnum & Mason, where it became the bestselling marmalade, selling 10,300 jars over the year. Fifty pence from each jar, along with the entry fees from all the amateur categories, goes to Hospices at Home, and £17,000 was raised for the charity.
Lord Henley brightened as he discussed the art of preserve making. I enjoy making it partly because of the smell around the house. He twitched his aristocratic nostrils expressively. Hand-cut or minced? I use a marmalade cutter, like an old-fashioned meat mincer.
The prizes were announced, and 70-year-old Hazel Rushton was proclaimed overall champion for her Seville orange marmalade with molasses sugar; delicious, fruity, not too sweet and with an arresting treacly flavour.
The secret, she told me, was to make it over two days. My grandmother used to say three days but we dont have time for that nowadays. I soak the fruit overnight, then simmer it for a good hour until it is really soft before adding the sugar. I boil until it coats the back of the spoon well, then test it on a saucer. Contrary to received wisdom, the saucer doesnt need to be chilled first. I just keep it on the windowsill.
The results of the Marmalashes come in shortly afterwards. Its a whitewash, Im afraid, declared Corbin. But what about Hughs marmalade? It turns out that, incognito, his Tawney Crab has already been judged, and raised only 14 points for the home side.
He does a lot of great things but hes no marmalade maker, admitted Pam. And he is a good sport, we concluded. Lady Cora would approve.
How to win a marmalade award
- Colour and clarity The marmalade should be bright and translucent, but not at the expense of flavour. Very transparent marmalades are often the result of adding too much sugar.
- Consistency The marmalade should be set, not syrupy. The peel should be really soft, so boil it until it can be rubbed away between finger and thumb before adding the sugar.
-Flavour and aroma If it says Seville on the label, thats what it should taste of. And if it is Seville orange and something else, the orange should still predominate. And it mustnt be overcooked.
-Appearance Fill the jar right to the top, polish the glass, write the label neatly and put it on straight. Avoid old pickle jars as the smell lingers. Likewise, dont use jars or lids with trademarks on. Its illegal, Doreen told me severely.
Next years Marmalade Festival and Awards ceremony will be held on February 23-24. For entry forms go to marmaladeawards.com, call 01768 486450 or write to Marmalade Awards, Dalemain, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 OHB
The Book of Marmalade by C Anne Wilson (Prospect Books, RRP £9.99) is available from Telegraph Books at £9.99 + 99p p & p. Call 0844 871 1515 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
