Preserves, Marmalades and Jelly
What Makes a Marmalade, Jelly and a Curd Different?
When admiring our great preserves wall in our Piccadilly store, other than marvelling at the many flavours on offer, have you ever stopped and asked yourself “what is the difference between a preserve, marmalade and jelly?” If you’ve found yourself asking this question, allow us to answer it below.
Before the days of refrigerators and freezers being the norm, jarring and preserving food was more than just a delightful hobby, it was one of the few ways of storing food during the cold season or a long journey by sea or land.
Fast forward to the present day, and you will find that preserves are much more than a process for storing food. Creating original and unusual flavour combinations is all part of the appeal, adding a touch of heat, a pang of tartness, a little splash of alcohol or even an infusion of tea, and preserves become much more exciting.
Aside from all the flavour combinations, do you know what defines one type of preserve from another? Whether it’s a marmalade, jelly or a curd, it simply comes down to the kind of fruit that is used, the way the product is prepared, and the proportions of different ingredients added.
Preserves
The word preserve is often used as an umbrella for all sorts of preserved fruit spreads. More often than not, the term is used to refer to preserved whole fruit or fruit cut into large sized pieces, which is then stored in its own juices or syrup. The storage liquid is typically clear-ish and is often slightly gelled, by adding pectin to the liquid. The fruit maintains its shape during the cooking process, and should be tender and plump.
Preserves have a multitude of uses, from spreading them across hot buttered toast and as fillings for cakes, to serving them with ice cream for a fruity kick. Here at Fortnum’s, we think preserves are best enjoyed spread on fresh scones for Afternoon Tea.
Marmalades
The word marmalade was derived from the Greek 'melimelon', which referred to quince stored in honey. Today, marmalade is a soft jelly that contains pieces of fruit rind that are usually citrus. Marmalades have both a sweet and sour flavour, and the rind of the fruit imparts a mild bitterness. Although cooked rinds become tender, they maintain their structure, giving the spread a distinct candy-like bite.
Not only do we use citrus peel for marmalade because it contains high amounts of flavourful and aromatic oils, but the peel also contains very high levels of pectin - which is a natural gelling agent, causing the liquid in preserves and marmalades to set.
Marmalade, whether it's made from lemon, orange, or other citrus fruit, gives breakfast a boost, by balancing the butteriness of a scone or toast with a sharp tartness. Marmalade also makes a great glaze for cured meats or cakes, like our Sir Nigel's Marmalade Dundee Cake.
Jellies
The primary difference between jam and jelly is that jelly is strained for a gem-like clarity without fruit solids. To get that bright, crystal-clear consistency, most fruits are crushed and cooked to extract their juice. The mixture is strained through a fine mesh fabric, to ensure that no fruit particles slip through. After straining, the juice is boiled rapidly with sugar and pectin so that when it sets, it holds its shape.
Before the liquid sets, petals and fruits are often added to jelly to further infuse it with flavour. Here at Fortnum’s we add rose petals, grown in a single garden in Oxfordshire, to our highly fragrant Rose Petal Jelly. The petals are picked in the evening when they are at their most scented, and then transferred the next morning to the jelly, thus capturing the fine fragrance and flavour of the rose petals.
Curds
.A curd differs from all other types of preserves as it contains eggs and butter, very similar in texture as custard. A curd is a thick, creamy spread that is made by cooking together fruit juice – usually a citrus fruit, egg yolks, butter and sugar. Fresh fruit juice and sugar provide the flavour of the curd, while the egg yolks serve to thicken up the mixture as it cooks, just as eggs thicken up cooked custard. Most curd recipes also call for butter to be added to the finished curd, just to add a little extra richness and an extra-silky texture.
Our lemon curd is made the old-fashioned way, with butter, free-range eggs and as much lemon juice as possible. Sharp yet rich, it contains no colourings, so has a natural butter-yellow hue. Exceptionally good on soft, white bread, spread on scones or an excellent base for lemon tarts.
