- FoodBook - find out about new food taste and experiences
Marmalade – Preserve made from citrus fruits
Marmalade (from the Portuguese marmelada) is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water.
The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots, and other citrus fruits, or a combination. Citrus is the most typical choice of fruit for marmalade, though historically the term has often been used for non-citrus preserves.
The preferred citrus fruit for marmalade production[according to whom?] is the Spanish Seville or bitter orange, Citrus aurantium var. aurantium, prized for its high pectin content, which sets readily to the thick consistency expected of marmalade. The peel imparts a bitter taste.
The Portuguese original word marmelada means made of 'quince'.
Unlike jam, a large quantity of water is added to the fruit in a marmalade, the extra liquid being set by the high pectin content of the fruit.[citation needed] In this respect it is like a jelly, but whereas the fruit pulp and peel are strained out of jelly to give it its characteristic clarity, it is retained in a marmalade.