Marmalade

In the years since hot toast and marmalade took a grip on the breakfast habits of the British, nearly all the bitter Spanish Seville oranges harvested in January and February are made into marmalade. Spaniards are not greatly excited by marmalade, but earthenware pots of it have followed Brits around the world for decades. In the early 1900s, the Empress of Russia and the Queen of Greece, both grand-daughters of Queen Victoria, had supplies sent regularly from Wilkins of Tiptree. Frank Cooper of Oxford still have a tin which was taken on Scott’s expedition to the North Pole in 1911, which was discovered there in perfect condition in 1980. Marmalade has also been taken with UK expeditions up Everest, although it may not have been eaten on hot buttered toast.