Marmalades were probably first made by the ancient Greeks, who slow-cooked quince with honey to make a thick, sweet-and-tart spread. The word marmalade first came from Greek word melimelon meaning ‘honey apple’.
According to the Dioscorides, the 1st century AD physician, quinces, peeled and with their pips removed, were wedged together as tightly as possible in honey. After a year they became as soft as ‘wine-honey’.
The ancient Romans learned from Greeks and added new wine to produce a particular Roman marmalade. Wine and honey were boiled together and reduced to a thick consistency.
English travelers became familiar with the delicacy and began importing it as a luxury. The English learned about marmalades from the French by the 15th century AD and in the 17th century, when England began to import a plentiful supply of citrus fruit, marmalade began to be made with oranges and lemons. The word marmalade appeared in English in 1524.
In 1524 Hull of Exeter presented a box of the delicacy to King Henry VIII.
History of marmalades
