Calling all Scottish homemade marmalade makers

Entries are now open for the 10th World’s Original Marmalade Awards & Festival and this year any amateur entrant entering from Scotland can put their entry fee towards Marie Curie in Scotland.
 
For centuries Scotland has been the home of marmalade, it’s said that Mary Queen of Scots brought some over with her from France in the sixteenth century, it’s also claimed that the first real marmalade was made north of the border, by Janet Keiller in Dundee. Now the nation’s modern day cooks are being challenged to prove their own homemade preserves are as good as their ancestors and enter a jar into the Marmalade Awards.
 
There are new categories as well as old favourites to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the awards and 15 categories in total including a special Scottish category. It’s called the ‘Gathering of the Clans’, with Scottish clan chiefs and clansmen and women being urged to put their preserve-making skills to the test.  If the recipe goes back generations, the festival organisers want to hear the story.

Entries are now open for the 10th World’s Original Marmalade Awards & Festival, sponsored by Scottish marmalade maker Mackays, which hails the preserve in all its sticky glory. The closing date for entries is 15 February 2015. Everyone who enters a jar gets their preserve tasted and judged by experts, and then gets sent a personalised mark card with feedback on how the marmalade can be improved - or if they are lucky, a gold, silver or bronze award. Last year over 2,200 jars were entered. The double gold star winner gets their marmalade made by a commercial kitchen and then stocked at Fortnum & Mason – and 50p from every jar sold goes to charity.

There are categories for artisan, B&B/hotel & restaurant owners as well as homemade marmalade makers to enter and this year any amateur entrant entering from Scotland can put their entry fee towards Marie Curie in Scotland.
 
Good quality Seville oranges are now easier to source as supermarkets react to customer demand and preserves makers – homemade, artisan and commercial - continue to push the culinary boundaries by exploring unusual marmalade trends and tastes.

Jane Hasell-McCosh, founder of the Awards, said: “We’re seeing fruity, spicy, alcoholic and downright original ingredients, such as seaweed and beer, being combined with citrus to make modern marmalades. Of course people still adore spreading the traditional thick-cut Seville on their toast but our awards celebrate marmalade in all its sticky and diverse, delicious glory.

“Ten years ago I started this event as I was worried that our wonderful tradition of marmalade making and eating was becoming less popular. I’m delighted over the last decade there’s been a renaissance in marmalade making and am looking forward to tasting entries to our 2015 awards.”

2015 is set to be a golden year for marmalade with a growing interest in not only making preserves at home but also a steep rise in exports of British marmalade abroad.

Marmalade maker Mackays, based in the Dundee area of Scotland, has seen a significant increase in exports to countries such as Japan, Germany, Denmark, USA and the Czech Republic.

Martin Grant, Managing Director of Mackays, said: “We are finding an ever increasing demand for marmalade around the world and now export to over 60 countries.  We are the last remaining producer of Dundee Orange Marmalade in the area and I think our heritage, coupled with the fact we still make our preserves using traditional copper pans, is the key.”
 
The most famous marmalade lover of them all, Paddington Bear presides over the Festival itself making guest appearances and readings from his adventures. Visitors to the Marmalade Festival (28 Feb & 1 March 2015), held at Dalemain Mansion, near Penrith in the Lake District, get the chance to view the entries, taste over 200 different marmalades, attend workshops, lectures, lots of activities for children and the whole event will be well rooted in the Spanish Seville.

Collection points are available in Scotland for people to drop their entries off, including Mackays who are offering a marmalade exchange, Hopetoun, Herbie of Edinburgh and more, please see website for full details.

The Marie Curie Dundee Fundraising Group are also planning to hold a collection day at St Pauls Cathedral in Dundee city centre on Saturday 7 February, to encourage locals from the home of marmalade to enter.

The event kicks off National Marmalade Week (28 February - 7 March 2015), overseen by the awards’ organisers, which encourages people to try, buy or make marmalade.

Closing date for entries is 15 February 2014. Further entry details including an entry form, category criteria, submission details, entry fees and entry drop-off points can be found at www.marmaladeawards.com.

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