Marmalade: the word is spreading!

There is a hushed reverence in the hall. Ladies and gentlemen (emphasis on the gentle) stoop over tables crowded with filled jars containing a substance ranging from vibrant amber to muddy ochre. The judges' marking cards have been placed by the jars and there is the occasional excited exclamation or unhappy protestation as the results are read. Though it sounds like something eccentric from times forgotten, this is very much 2011.

I am standing in the Garden Room of historic Lake District Dalemain House, witnessing the annual Marmalade Festival with extreme curiosity.

There was a reported decline in the popularity of marmalade sales some years ago - the change in the British palette for claggier, nutty spreads was blamed for the downturn.

But Jane Hasell-McCosh, the festival's founder is quick to tell me about the rise in numbers of people buying bitter Seville oranges and marmalade making equipment, which she believes is testament to the festival's success. Given the unique character of the event and the sheer statistics (around 70 jars were entered into their first ever competition and the sixth and latest contest has had over 1100 entries) it's hard to dispute.

Jane started the festival as a way of encouraging local B&Bs to produce high quality preserves, entering their lovingly-made marmalade to give them a standard to keep up with, and the idea grew from there. Now with 14 different categories ranging from marmalade made by members of the clergy to merry ones with a boozy twist, anyone can enter their homemade citrus spreads and all amateur entry fees are donated to charities such as Hospice at Home (www.hospiceathome.co.uk).

Rigorously scrutinised by the Women's Institute, then tasted by a panel of expert judges (including the preserves buyer from Fortnum & Mason), each jar is marked out of 20. Overcooked jelly and undercooked peel seem to be the biggest sins, but marks can be deducted for many reasons - even underfilling the jars!

The judges are highly discerning, with top scores being awarded to only a small percentage of entries. This year's champion of champions came from the Peers and Politicians category, receiving the most coveted prize - a re-making of their marmalade by an artisan company to be stocked in Fortnum & Mason in the next couple of months.

Marmalade is no longer a preserve of the British. People from as far as the Virgin Islands, Japan and Hawaii have also sent in their jars. I met a couple from Barcelona who read about the festival in a Spanish newspaper and, having made marmalade for a number of years from their Seville oranges, entered the competition.

There's more to the festival than just the awards - among the tastings and demos, there was an enlightening talk on the origins of marmalade by food historian Ivan Day, baking workshops with bread guru Dan Lepard and a blisteringly beautiful bonfire party in the evening. Over the weekend, over 150 girl guides even chopped and squeezed their way to making hopefully the world's largest jar of marmalade (currently being confirmed with the Guinness World Records) - no mean feat!

The infectious enthusiasm of everyone I spoke and listened to was palpable. I think may have caught their bug - what once was a mere fondness for this peculiarly British spread is rapidly growing into a marma-obsession as I write. Despite coming away from the weekend laden with a year's supply of the stuff, I'm already considering what citrus to slice up for the preserving pan this weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll even send in a jar next year...

Visit www.marmaladeawards.com for more info on the festival

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