Marrow and Ginger Jam

Huge marrows (outsize summer squashes) are often in the background in the kitchen at Downton, just as preserving jars and neatly labeled jams appear both on the table and in the kitchen cupboards. Gardeners were constantly at loggerheads with cooks in the Edwardian house: cooks wanted young, delicate vegetables suitable for the family table, whereas gardeners wanted to grow big, prizewinning specimens. Gardening and produce shows were part of country life, and the top prizes, unsurprisingly