Marmalade

Marmalade, sweet orange and fragrant lemon

What is marmalade? The answer is to be found not just in the word “orange” but also of course in “lemon“. Sometimes used in Italian to refer to jam in general, “marmalade” is a common term, but is in fact governed by a law (of 20th February 2004, n°50), that declared it must be prepared exclusively with citrus fruit, including the pulp, puree, extracts, juice and peel. The quantity of lemon, mandarin or orange present in 1kg of marmalade should never be any less than 200g.

The name “marmalade” probably derives from the Portuguese “marmelo“, meaning quince, made into a kind of jam by the Greeks, with the addition of honey. Legend has it that it was an invention of Catherine of Aragon: having married Henry VIII of England she requested that the fruits of her land be sent to her. In order to preserve them, lemon marmalade was conceived, not to mention the famed orange marmalade.

It is a typical product of Puglia, Sicily and Calabria, where the intense perfume of orange blossom envelopes the flourishing groves. Marmalade generally has a calorie count between 130 and 260 Kcal per 100g, and is a symbol not only of tradition, but of youth itself, as Bobo Rondelli sang in his song “La marmellata”.