Marmalade: A Very British Obsession
The dark wood-panelled dining room is quiet, heavy with concentration.
深色木板餐厅安静而专注。
Around the room, six pairs of judges sit at tables crowded with glass jars.
在房间周围，六对评委坐在挤满玻璃罐的桌子旁。
As the light catches the jars they glow amber, saffron, primrose.
当光线照射到罐子上时，它们会发出琥珀色、藏红花色、报春花色的光。
The only real sounds are the murmurs as the pairs of judges consult, and the regular pop!
唯一真实的声音是评委们商议时的低语声和规律的爆裂声！
of sterilized jars as they open.
消毒后的罐子打开时的情况。
Occasionally, there is the tap of a pen against glass, signifying that a gold medal has been awarded, followed by quiet applause or cheers depending on how sugar-drunk the judges are.
偶尔会有钢笔敲击玻璃的声音，表明金牌已被授予，随后是安静的掌声或欢呼声，具体取决于评委们的糖醉程度。
This is the judging room of the World’s Original Marmalade Awards, an annual event in Penrith, England, in the English Lake District.
这是世界原创果酱奖的评审室，该奖项是在英格兰湖区的英格兰彭里斯举行的年度活动。
I’m here because I’m obsessed with marmalade.
我来这里是因为我对果酱很着迷。
Not with making or eating it — although I enjoy both — but the enigma it represents.
不是制作或食用它——尽管我两者都喜欢——而是它所代表的谜团。
I suppose I’m obsessed with those obsessed with it: what is the appeal?
我想我对那些痴迷它的人很着迷：它有什么吸引力？
Marmalade is made from a sour, bitter fruit that doesn’t grow in the UK; a fruit that requires days of preparation to render remotely edible.
果酱是用一种在英国不生长的又酸又苦的水果制成的。一种需要数天准备才能远程食用的水果。
And yet, marmalade holds a central role in British life and British culture.
然而，果酱在英国生活和英国文化中发挥着核心作用。
It appears in the diaries of Samuel Pepys; James Bond and Paddington Bear eat it.
它出现在塞缪尔·佩皮斯的日记中；詹姆斯·邦德和帕丁顿熊都吃它。
Officers that served in British wars received jars of marmalade to remind them of their home country.
在英国战争中服役的军官收到了几罐果酱，以提醒他们自己的祖国。
Captain Scott took jars to the Antarctic with him, and Edmund Hillary took one up Everest.
斯科特船长带着罐子去了南极，埃德蒙·希拉里则带着罐子登上了珠穆朗玛峰。
Marmalade is part of our national myth.
果酱是我们民族神话的一部分。
I want to know why.
我想知道为什么。
***
***
Marmalade in Britain is overwhelmingly made from citrus aurantium, the bitter orange grown in the Spanish city of Seville.
英国的果酱绝大多数是由酸橙制成的，酸橙是西班牙塞维利亚市种植的苦橙。
This city produces over 4 million kilos of the orange a year, almost entirely for export to Britain for the marmalade market.
该市每年生产超过 400 万公斤橙子，几乎全部出口到英国作为果酱市场。
How on earth did that happen?
这到底是怎么发生的？
James Bond and Paddington Bear eat it.
詹姆斯·邦德和帕丁顿熊都吃它。
Officers that served in British wars received jars of marmalade to remind them of their home country.
在英国战争中服役的军官收到了几罐果酱，以提醒他们自己的祖国。
Captain Scott took jars to the Antarctic with him, and Edmund Hillary took one up Everest.
斯科特船长带着罐子去了南极，埃德蒙·希拉里则带着罐子登上了珠穆朗玛峰。
Marmalade is part of our national myth.
果酱是我们民族神话的一部分。
I want to know why.
我想知道为什么。
Some would have you believe that marmalade was born in a vacuum.
有些人会让您相信果酱是在真空中诞生的。
That, like Post-it notes or penicillin, it was invented all of a sudden, brought about by a confluence of unlikely factors.
就像便利贴或青霉素一样，它是突然被发明的，是由一些不太可能的因素共同产生的。
The story goes like this: it was a dark and stormy night.
故事是这样的：那是一个漆黑的暴风雨之夜。
The rain fell in torrents, and a Spanish cargo ship was forced to take an unscheduled dock in Dundee, though it could as well have been anywhere; any port in a storm.
倾盆大雨倾盆而下，一艘西班牙货船被迫停靠在邓迪的一个计划外的码头，尽管它也可以在任何地方。暴风雨中的任何港口。
Its cargo: oranges.
其货物：橙子。
A Dundee grocer, James Keiller, rashly buys up the whole load of them.
邓迪的一位杂货商詹姆斯·凯勒（James Keiller）草率地买下了全部这些东西。
He quickly discovers these oranges aren’t sweet and fleshy, but face-puckering sour and bitter, more pip than fruit.
他很快发现这些橙子并不甜，肉质也不好，而是又酸又苦，果子比水果还多。
His mother, Janet, in an attempt to produce something, boils them up with tons of sugar.
他的母亲珍妮特试图生产一些东西，用大量的糖将它们煮沸。
And so, marmalade was born.
于是，果酱诞生了。
The truth, I’m afraid, is rather more prosaic.
恐怕事实更加平淡无奇。
We know that Seville orange marmalade in Britain predates this charming tale: there are British recipes for conserves of Seville oranges as far back as the 1587 A Book of Cookrye, and a marmalade very much like the one we eat today appears in a recipe book by Eliza Cholmondeley published around 1677.
我们知道，塞维利亚橙子果酱在英国的出现早于这个迷人的故事：英国的塞维利亚橙子蜜饯食谱可以追溯到 1587 年的《A Book of Cookrye》，而与我们今天吃的果酱非常相似的果酱出现在 Eliza Cholmondeley 于 1677 年左右出版的一本食谱书中。
The Keiller family probably were the first to produce Seville orange marmalade on a commercial scale, but the Spanish ship story was and is just good PR.
凯勒家族可能是第一个以商业规模生产塞维利亚橙子果酱的人，但西班牙船的故事过去和现在都是很好的公关。
It is likely, according to C.
根据 C 的说法，这是有可能的。
Anne Wilson’s The Book of Marmalade, that the cargo ship would only have been carrying large quantities of Seville oranges because there was a ready market for them in Scotland, and that Janet Keiller would not have needed to invent a recipe for the orange marmalade, as many were in circulation by that point in England and Scotland.
安妮·威尔逊 (Anne Wilson) 的《果酱之书》中指出，这艘货船只会运载大量塞维利亚橙子，因为它们在苏格兰有现成的市场，而且珍妮特·凯勒 (Janet Keiller) 不需要发明橙子果酱的配方，因为当时许多橙子在英格兰和苏格兰都在流通。
The expansion of the railways came at just the right time for the Keillers, and when Queen Victoria took a shine to the stuff, it quickly became fashionable in London.
对于凯勒家族来说，铁路的扩建恰逢其时，当维多利亚女王对铁路感兴趣时，它很快就在伦敦流行起来。
Once commercial production was underway, marmalade became a celebrated British export, perfect for overseas trade, able to travel long distances preserved by its sugar content, and capable of withstanding extremes of temperature.
一旦商业化生产开始，果酱就成为英国著名的出口产品，非常适合海外贸易，因其含糖量而能够长途运输，并且能够承受极端的温度。
In any event, marmalade was also made with other things long before it was made with the Seville orange.
无论如何，早在用塞维利亚橙子制成果酱之前，果酱就已经用其他东西制成了。
Early marmalades were often made from quince, and closely resembled what we now call membrillo: a thick paste that could be moulded and would hold its shape.
早期的果酱通常由榅桲制成，与我们现在所说的 membrillo 非常相似：一种可以模制并保持形状的浓稠糊状物。
A recipe from 1587 reads “stir it till it be thick or stiff that your stick will stand upright of itself.” Like membrillo, this marmalade was eaten after dinner, alongside sweetmeats, and as a digestion aid (one thing the Scottish did do in the nineteenth century was move marmalade from dinner to the breakfast table).
1587 年的食谱上写着“搅拌直至变稠或变硬，这样你的棍子就能自己直立了。”和 membrillo 一样，这种果酱也是在晚餐后与甜食一起食用，并作为消化助剂（苏格兰人在 19 世纪所做的一件事就是将果酱从晚餐转移到早餐桌上）。
It was a luxury item, sometimes flavored with prized ambergris, rose, and musk.
这是一种奢侈品，有时会用珍贵的龙涎香、玫瑰和麝香调味。
It was given as gifts as a show of generosity and riches: Henry VIII received “one box of marmalade” from Hull of Exeter in 1524.
它被作为礼物赠送，以显示慷慨和财富：亨利八世于 1524 年收到了来自埃克塞特赫尔的“一盒果酱”。
Quinces also gave marmalade its name: the world comes from the Portuguese name for the fruit, marmelo.
柑橘也给果酱起了个名字：这个名字来源于葡萄牙语中这种水果的名字“marmelo”。
Indeed, early port records tell us that marmalade first arrived in the UK from Portugal, though our appetite for the stuff meant it was soon coming from Spain and Italy too.
事实上，早期的港口记录告诉我们，果酱首先从葡萄牙抵达英国，尽管我们对这种东西的胃口意味着它很快也来自西班牙和意大利。
It didn’t take long for English travellers to discover the recipe — a happy occurrence, since quinces grow very well on our temperate isle.
没过多久，英国旅行者就发现了这个食谱——这是一件令人高兴的事情，因为榅桲在我们的温带岛屿上生长得很好。
We were, for a short time at least, an independent marmalade-making nation, until we got a taste for the foreign bitter orange.
至少在很短的一段时间内，我们是一个独立的果酱制作国家，直到我们尝到了外国的苦橙的味道。
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Only in English does marmalade connote a citrus-based preserve containing peel.
只有在英语中，橘子酱才意味着含有果皮的柑橘类果酱。
In Greek (marmelada), French (marmalade), and Italian (marmellata), the word just means “jam,” with the fruit added afterward to distinguish.
在希腊语（marmelada）、法语（marmalade）和意大利语（marmellata）中，这个词的意思只是“果酱”，后面加上水果以示区别。
Thus marmellata di arance is orange jam: sweet, pulpy.
因此，marmellata di arance 是橙子果酱：甜、多汁。
Only marmellata di arance amare is what the English think of as marmalade.
英国人认为只有 marmellata di arance amare 才是橘子酱。
And it’s not just Romance languages: marmelad in Swedish, Marmelade in German, and marmelade in Danish, all generic terms for any fruit cooked in sugar.
不仅仅是罗曼语系语言：瑞典语中的 marmelad、德语中的 Marmelade 和丹麦语中的 marmelade，这些都是用糖烹制的任何水果的通用术语。
The British clearly think of marmalade differently from the rest of the world.
英国人对果酱的看法显然与世界其他地方不同。
***
***
There are many ways to make marmalade.
制作果酱的方法有很多种。
Some boil the fruit whole; others prefer to cut the peel first.
有些人将整个水果煮沸；有些人则将水果煮熟。其他人则喜欢先切果皮。
The merits of pressure-cooking are fiercely debated.
高压烹饪的优点引起了激烈的争论。
But broadly speaking, marmalade is made by separating the citrus fruit into its different components — pips, peel, pith, juice — and boiling, before adding sugar and boiling again.
但从广义上讲，果酱是通过将柑橘类水果分离成不同的成分（果核、果皮、髓、果汁）并煮沸，然后添加糖并再次煮沸而制成的。
Generally, the pith, pips, and flesh are tied up in a muslin bag.
一般情况下，果髓、果核和果肉都绑在棉布袋中。
The peel is sliced into equal sized strips or chips.
将果皮切成相同大小的条或片。
The muslin bag and peel are left to soak overnight in the water.
将平纹细布袋和果皮在水中浸泡过夜。
The following day, the peel is cooked until tender.
第二天，将果皮煮至变软。
Sugar is added, along with any reserved juice, and heated gently until it dissolves, before the heat is ratcheted up to bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
添加糖以及保留的果汁，轻轻加热直至溶解，然后逐渐加热以使混合物沸腾。
In 10-15 minutes, the mixture should have reached 105°C/220°F — jam temperature — meaning that it will set once cool.
10-15 分钟内，混合物应达到 105°C/220°F（果酱温度），这意味着一旦冷却就会凝固。
If you make it with Seville oranges, it’s something of a nose-to-tail preserve: the pips and the pith contain enough natural pectin, a gelling agent, to set the marmalade without additional ingredients.
如果你用塞维利亚橙子来做，那就是一种从头到尾的蜜饯：果核和果髓含有足够的天然果胶（一种胶凝剂），无需其他成分即可凝固果酱。
Nothing is wasted.
没有任何东西被浪费。
In theory, it’s a straightforward process; in practice it is riddled with possible unforced errors.
理论上，这是一个简单的过程；在实践中，它充满了可能的非受迫性错误。
You can overboil it, underboil it, add too much acid, add too little acid; you can burn the syrup in the same batch you undercook the peel.
你可以把它煮过头，煮过头，加太多酸，加太少酸；你可以在未煮熟果皮的同一批次中燃烧糖浆。
You can pot too hot, you can pot too cool.
你可以把锅太热，也可以把锅太冷。
Over the years, my husband, Sam, has encountered every one of them.
多年来，我的丈夫萨姆遇到过他们中的每一位。
It was Sam who properly brought marmalade into my life.
是山姆将果酱恰当地带入了我的生活。
He was late for one of our early dates because he was waiting for his marmalade to set.
我们的一次早期约会他迟到了，因为他正在等待果酱凝固。
He arrived, clutching a sticky, still-warm jar of Seville orange marmalade, in lieu of flowers.
他到达时手里拿着一罐黏糊糊的、还温热的塞维利亚橙子果酱，而不是鲜花。
Back then, I didn’t even really eat marmalade.
那时，我什至没有真正吃过果酱。
I certainly would never have countenanced making my own.
我当然不会同意自己制作。
Why would anyone bother?
为什么有人会打扰？
Was he aware that you can buy it in the supermarket?
他知道你可以在超市买到吗？
I was a criminal barrister, and the point in my life where I would ditch criminal law in favor of retraining in pâtisserie was still years in the future.
我是一名刑事律师，在我的人生中，我要放弃刑法转而接受糕点师的再培训还需要几年的时间。
It was Sam who properly brought marmalade into my life.
是山姆将果酱恰当地带入了我的生活。
He was late for one of our early dates because he was waiting for his marmalade to set.
我们的一次早期约会他迟到了，因为他正在等待果酱凝固。
But Sam came from a long line of marmalade lovers and marmalade makers.
但萨姆来自果酱爱好者和果酱制造商的家族。
In marmalade season — in the UK, Seville oranges are only available for a few brief weeks from the end of December to mid-February — it’s all his family talks about, with long WhatsApp threads devoted to techniques, yields, sets.
在果酱季节——在英国，塞维利亚橙子的上市时间只有短短几周，从 12 月底到 2 月中旬——他的家人都在谈论这件事，WhatsApp 上的长篇大论专门讨论了技术、产量和品种。
Sam was a good cook, but not an especially enthusiastic one: he cooked simple, functional meals.
萨姆是一位好厨师，但不是一个特别热情的人：他做简单、实用的饭菜。
But marmalade was different.
但果酱不同。
Marmalade making was, for him, non-negotiable.
对他来说，制作果酱是没有商量余地的。
Even if we had shelves packed full of the previous years’ labors, when January rolled around, more must be made.
即使我们的货架上摆满了前几年的劳动成果，一月份到来时，我们还必须生产更多的产品。
(It’s not just Sam and his family who are fanatics.
（不仅仅是山姆和他的家人是狂热分子。
So devoted are the marmalade makers of the UK that it’s possible to buy canned, prepared Seville orange peel and pulp, “Ma Made,” the marmalade equivalent of a cake mix box — just in case you get that marmalade-making hankering outside of season.)
英国的果酱制造商如此热衷，以至于可以购买罐装的、准备好的塞维利亚橙皮和果肉“Ma Made”，这种果酱相当于蛋糕混合盒——以防万一你在季节之外渴望制作果酱。）
For the first few years of our relationship, this was something I simply endured.
在我们关系的最初几年里，这是我只能忍受的事情。
Love the man, love his marmalade.
爱这个男人，爱他的果酱。
As I got into cooking, I tried to make my own a few times, with varying success, but never quite caught the bug.
当我开始做饭时，我尝试自己做几次，取得了不同程度的成功，但从未完全抓住这个错误。
(Besides which, we had an awful lot to get through.
（除此之外，我们还有很多事情要做。
Even a small batch is a lot of marmalade for two people.) It all seemed so unpredictable; some years, whole batches had to be reboiled as Sam muttered darkly about it being a “low-pectin year.”
即使是一小批对于两个人来说也是很多果酱。）这一切似乎都是那么不可预测；有些年份，整批产品都必须重新煮沸，萨姆阴郁地嘀咕着今年是“果胶含量低的一年”。
Once you’re hooked, of course, this is all part of the appeal.
当然，一旦您着迷，这就是吸引力的一部分。
Lucy Deedes is a veteran of both the homemade and artisan classes of the World’s Original Marmalade Awards, scoring three gold medals in the artisan.
露西·迪德斯 (Lucy Deedes) 是世界原创果酱奖自制和手工类别的资深人士，在手工类别中获得了三枚金牌。
“You have to get things right at the right time.
“你必须在正确的时间把事情做好。
I’ve never made jam because it’s not much of a challenge.
我从来没有做过果酱，因为这并不是什么挑战。
Marmalade only has three ingredients, but every batch is different, and sometimes it just doesn’t turn out.”
果酱只有三种成分，但每批都不一样，有时就是出不来。”
In other words: the tricky, maddening nature of marmalade is precisely why people love making it.
换句话说：果酱的棘手、令人疯狂的本质正是人们喜欢制作它的原因。
It’s a bit like sourdough: if you’re going to get into it, you have to really get into it.
这有点像酸面团：如果你想深入其中，你就必须真正深入其中。
Even then, failure lurks around every corner — but so does the possibility of improvement.
即便如此，失败仍然潜伏在每个角落——但改进的可能性也同样存在。
That’s irresistible to a certain sort of person; marmalade attracts the obsessive.
这对某些人来说是不可抗拒的；果酱吸引着痴迷者。
Helena Atlee, author of The Land Where Lemons Grow puts it more bluntly.
《柠檬生长的土地》一书的作者海伦娜·阿特利 (Helena Atlee) 说得更直白。
“Marmalade attracts bigots.
“果酱吸引了偏执者。
They believe in one true product made from the sour oranges the British call Sevilles, and coming most probably from a steamy Scottish kitchen in Dundee.”
他们相信有一种真正的产品是由英国人称之为塞维利亚的酸橙制成的，而且很可能来自邓迪一个热气腾腾的苏格兰厨房。”
For the first few years of our relationship, this was something I simply endured.
在我们关系的最初几年里，这是我只能忍受的事情。
Love the man, love his marmalade.
爱这个男人，爱他的果酱。
I want to meet some of these obsessives, and understand the hold that marmalade has over so many.
我想认识一些这样的痴迷者，并了解果酱对这么多人的影响。
And I think I know where to find them: the World’s Original Marmalade Awards.
我想我知道在哪里可以找到它们：世界原创果酱奖。
***
***
I arrived at Dalemain, where the awards are held, against the odds, having battled Storm Ciara to make it to the flooded and snowbound Lake District.
我克服重重困难，与风暴席亚拉战斗，到达了被洪水淹没和大雪覆盖的湖区，到达了颁奖典礼的举办地戴尔曼。
At that point, I was fairly sure that extreme weather conditions would be the biggest challenge the awards would face this year.
那时，我相当确定极端天气条件将是今年奖项面临的最大挑战。
How much February Olivia had to learn.
二月奥利维亚需要学习多少东西。
I first spoke to Jane Hasell-McCosh, who is the founder of the awards over the phone, asking if I could interview her and perhaps a couple of the judges for this piece.
我首先通过电话与该奖项的创始人 Jane Hasell-McCosh 进行了交谈，询问我是否可以采访她以及这篇文章的几位评委。
‘“We can do one better than that,” she told me.
“‘我们可以做得更好，’她告诉我。
“Would you like to help us judge?”
“你愿意帮我们判断一下吗？”
I agreed on the spot, but afterward, I began to worry that I didn’t know enough about marmalade for the gig.
我当场同意了，但后来我开始担心我对演出的果酱了解不够。
Thanks to Sam, I eat it far more than I used to, and would tend to choose it over jam.
多亏了萨姆，我比以前吃的更多了，而且更倾向于选择它而不是果酱。
But is that enough?
但这就足够了吗？
Well, it was too late for that.
好吧，已经太晚了。
On my way up to the judging, I braced myself for the marmalade obsessives of which Helena Atlee writes — if not bigots, then at least fundamentalists.
在接受评审的路上，我做好了迎接海伦娜·阿特利（Helena Atlee）所写的果酱痴迷者的准备——如果不是偏执狂，那么至少是原教旨主义者。
I was ready to be told there is only one true way to make and enjoy marmalade, and that any deviation from it is an aberration and, possibly, a perversion.
我已经准备好被告知只有一种真正的方法来制作和享受果酱，任何偏离它的行为都是一种失常，甚至可能是一种变态。
Dalemain is astonishing.
戴尔曼令人惊讶。
The main frontage is Georgian, built in 1744, with the old hall dating far further back to the 12th century.
主要正面为乔治亚风格，建于 1744 年，旧大厅的历史可以追溯到 12 世纪。
It has been in the family for over 300 years.
它在这个家族中已有 300 多年的历史。
Although from the outside the house looks like a National Trust property, when you step inside you immediately realize it is a family home.
虽然从外面看，这所房子看起来像是国家信托财产，但当你走进去时，你立即意识到这是一个家庭住宅。
Laundry hangs in the huge stone kitchen, dogs weave between legs, and back copies of Vogue spill out from under a table in the hallway.
巨大的石头厨房里挂着洗好的衣服，狗在腿间穿梭，《Vogue》的封底从走廊的桌子底下洒出来。
On the walls, portraits of distant ancestors mingle with recent family photos.
墙上挂着远祖的肖像和最近的家庭照片。
In one of the guest rooms, a bed gifted by Queen Anne still resides.
其中一间客房内还保留着一张安妮女王赠送的床。
(The mattress, I am told, has been changed.)
（据我所知，床垫已更换。）
The awards began as a one-off.
这些奖项一开始只是一次性的。
Fifteen years ago, rural Britain was still struggling after being decimated four years earlier by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a highly infectious disease which affects cows and other cloven-footed animals, and generally requires widespread culling of livestock.
十五年前，英国农村地区在四年前因口蹄疫爆发而遭受重创后，仍在苦苦挣扎。口蹄疫是一种高度传染性疾病，影响牛和其他偶蹄类动物，通常需要大范围扑杀牲畜。
Jane wanted to do something to bring her local community together, something cheering.
简想做一些让当地社区团结起来的事情，一些令人振奋的事情。
There was never any plan for it to become a regular event.
从来没有任何计划让它成为一项常规活动。
The fact that it did is perhaps down to Jane’s formidable organizational nouse, though I believe her when she tells me how much the growth and success of the event took her by surprise.
事实上，它的成功也许要归功于简强大的组织智慧，尽管当她告诉我这次活动的发展和成功让她感到多么惊讶时，我相信她。
That first year, around 60 jars were received, almost exclusively from local competitors.
第一年，我们收到了大约 60 罐，几乎全部来自当地竞争对手。
This year, there are more than 3,000 entrants from 40 countries around the world, plus spin-off festivals in Japan and Australia.
今年，有来自全球 40 个国家的 3,000 多名参赛者，此外还有日本和澳大利亚的衍生节日。
During the time I spent at Dalemain, two separate production companies were filming.
我在戴尔曼度过的那段时间，两家独立的制作公司正在拍摄。
## Help us fund our next story
## 帮助我们资助我们的下一个故事
We’ve published hundreds of original stories, all funded by you — including personal essays, reported features, and reading lists.
我们已经出版了数百篇原创故事，全部由您资助——包括个人论文、报道专题和阅读清单。
After 15 years, judging has been honed to a fine art.
15年后，评审已成为一门精美的艺术。
The way it works is this: the marmalades are tasted on plastic spoons (never double-dipped), without the interference of bread, oatcakes or any other vehicle.
它的工作原理是这样的：用塑料勺子品尝果酱（切勿两次蘸酱），不受面包、燕麦饼或任何其他媒介的干扰。
Bath Oliver biscuits (a savory cracker) are on the table as a palate cleanser.
餐桌上摆着巴斯奥利弗饼干（一种美味的饼干）作为味觉清洁剂。
Each entry has a scorecard and is judged on its appearance, texture and flavor, with points available for lack of smudges on the jar, color, brightness, peel distribution, jar filled to the top, balance of jelly to peel, set, size of peel, texture of peel, balance of flavors, balance of acidity, length of finish, and “overall harmony.” The marmalades can receive a commended, a bronze, a silver, a gold, or nothing at all.
每个参赛作品都有一个记分卡，并根据其外观、质地和风味进行评判，评分标准包括罐子上没有污迹、颜色、亮度、果皮分布、罐子装满到顶部、果冻与果皮的平衡、凝固、果皮大小、果皮质地、口味平衡、酸度平衡、余味长度和“整体和谐”。果酱可能会获得好评、铜奖、银奖、金奖，或者什么都没有。
Those which have scored top marks are then re-judged: there is a Best in Show awarded to the top homemade marmalade, and a “Double Gold” award given to a handful of the very best across the categories.
然后，那些获得最高分的作品将被重新评判：最佳自制果酱将被授予“最佳展示奖”，而“双金奖”将被授予各个类别中的少数最佳作品。
The winner of the best homemade marmalade is sold in the luxury London department store, Fortnum & Mason.
最佳自制果酱的获奖者在伦敦豪华百货公司 Fortnum & Mason 出售。
After a short briefing, and armed with our spoons, we were ready to start judging.
经过简短的介绍后，我们拿起勺子，准备开始评判。
There are more categories than you could shake a stick at: in the homemade category, as well as the standard Seville orange (which have two sub-categories), dark and chunky marmalade and “other citrus,” there are categories for children, first-timers, men, gardeners (where the predominant ingredient beyond the citrus was grown by the competitor), octogenarians, and campanologists (bell-ringers).
类别多得让人眼花缭乱：在自制类别中，除了标准的塞维利亚橙子（有两个子类别）、深色厚实的果酱和“其他柑橘类水果”之外，还有针对儿童、初学者、男性、园丁（柑橘类以外的主要成分是由竞争对手种植的）、八旬老人和钟声学家（敲钟者）的类别。
Special categories of former years have included everything from peers, political & clergy, to hairdressers.
往年的特殊类别包括从同侪、政治和神职人员到美发师的一切。
The range is mind-boggling: a sweet potato and coffee marmalade from Taiwan sat alongside a lime glitter marmalade, which looked like something a teenage girl would daub on her eyelids.
该系列的产品令人难以置信：来自台湾的红薯和咖啡果酱与酸橙闪光果酱搭配在一起，看起来就像一个十几岁的女孩会涂抹在眼皮上的东西。
A coconut and chocolate marmalade elicited groans when it was plucked from a crate, followed by raised eyebrows and “not bad!”s once actually tasted.
当椰子和巧克力果酱从板条箱中取出时，它会引起人们的呻吟，随后人们扬起眉毛，并在真正品尝后“不错！”。
I tasted fruits I’ve never even heard of, let alone tried: daidai (the Japanese equivalent of the Seville orange, bitter, pocked, and pithy), tachibana (a wild mandarin found in Southern Taiwan and Japan), kawachi bankan (a Japanese pomelo), and tangelo (a sweet tangy orange that tastes, to me at least, like jelly beans).
我尝到了从未听说过的水果，更不用说尝试过了：daidai（日本的塞维利亚橙子，苦涩、有麻点、精髓）、tachibana（台湾南部和日本发现的一种野生柑橘）、kawachi bankan（一种日本柚子）和 tangelo（一种甜甜浓郁的橙子，至少对我来说，尝起来像软糖豆）。
It is no coincidence that some of the most striking and delicious citrus fruits previously unknown to me come from Japan, and that the Japanese tend to enjoy particular success at the awards.
我以前不知道的一些最引人注目、最美味的柑橘类水果来自日本，而且日本人往往在这些奖项上取得特别的成功，这并非巧合。
Marmalade is big news in Japan, despite the absence of Seville oranges.
尽管没有塞维利亚橙子，但果酱在日本还是个大新闻。
Two years ago, Seiko and Yoriko Ninomiya, Japanese marmalade makers, received a double-gold award for their marmalade, a yuzu and ginger and, suspended in the jelly, tiny yuzu peel stars.
两年前，日本果酱制造商 Seiko 和 Yoriko Ninomiya 因其果酱（柚子和生姜以及悬浮在果冻中的柚子皮小星星）获得了双金奖。
They came to marmalade as a hobby after they retired from careers in the airline industry.
他们从航空业退休后，开始将果酱作为一种爱好。
They have been involved in the inaugural Japanese Marmalade Awards, which are held at Yawatahama, where the citrus groves tumble down the hills to the ocean.
他们参加了首届日本果酱奖，该奖项在八幡滨举行，那里的柑橘园从山上一直延伸到海洋。
This year, they have come to the Lake District to help judge the World awards.
今年，他们来到湖区帮助评判世界奖项。
I was told by more seasoned judges that when I tasted a full mark, gold marmalade, I would know immediately.
更有经验的评委告诉我，当我尝到满分的金果酱时，我会立即知道。
And they were right.
他们是对的。
I was the first person to try one of the marmalades that ultimately won the Double Gold International Marmalade award in the artisan category, and it was stop-you-in-your-tracks good.
我是第一个尝试最终获得国际果酱工匠类别双金奖的果酱的人，它的效果真是令人惊叹。
It too was a Japanese marmalade, made from the endangered tachibana fruit, which tastes like a Seville orange crossed with a mandarin — but it’s not just the flavor that set it apart.
这也是一种日本果酱，由濒临灭绝的立花果制成，尝起来像塞维利亚橙子与柑橘的混合——但它的独特之处不仅仅在于味道。
This was a reduced sugar marmalade, which often results in a loose, syrupy set, but here was a set so perfect that many full-sugar marmalades fail to achieve; crystal clear, wibbly jelly; identical, perfectly cooked peel was suspended throughout the jar.
这是一种低糖果酱，通常会产生松散、糖浆状的果酱，但这里的果酱是如此完美，以至于许多全糖果酱都无法实现；晶莹剔透、有弹性的果冻；相同的、完全煮熟的果皮悬浮在整个罐子里。
How could a marmalade be so clever?
果酱怎么能这么聪明呢？
I wanted to ring everyone I know and tell them about this stuff.
我想给我认识的每个人打电话，告诉他们这件事。
…here was a set so perfect that many full-sugar marmalades fail to achieve; crystal clear, wibbly jelly; identical, perfectly cooked peel was suspended throughout the jar.
……这是一个非常完美的组合，许多全糖果酱都无法实现；晶莹剔透、有弹性的果冻；相同的、完全煮熟的果皮悬浮在整个罐子里。
How could a marmalade be so clever?
果酱怎么能这么聪明呢？
***
***
It’s hard to comprehend when you’re sitting in the stone kitchen of Dalemain, but marmalade’s appeal is not what it once was.
当你坐在戴尔曼的石头厨房里时，你很难理解果酱的吸引力已经不如以前了。
Thane Prince, a British cookery writer, preserves specialist and judge of The Big Allotment Challenge, tells me that British tastes and customs have moved on.
英国烹饪作家、“大分配挑战”的保存专家和评委塞恩·普林斯告诉我，英国的口味和习俗已经发生了变化。
“It’s old-fashioned.
“这是老式的。
I think the appeal was that it was exotic.
我认为它的吸引力在于它具有异国情调。
A luxury product, and these things always have caché.
奢侈品，这些东西总是有缓存的。
But now it’s just old-fashioned.
但现在只是过时了。
And people don’t have breakfast in the same way.” During the height of marmalade’s popularity, a cooked “Full English” breakfast, accompanied by toast and marmalade was standard.
人们吃早餐的方式也不同。”在果酱最流行的时期，配有烤面包和果酱的“全套英式”熟食早餐是标准的。
But Britain’s marmalade consumption has been in decline since the 1960s.
但自 20 世纪 60 年代以来，英国的果酱消费量一直在下降。
Perhaps establishing marmalade as a breakfast food was actually sealing its fate.
也许将果酱作为早餐食品实际上决定了它的命运。
We have less time for breakfast now; we pick something up on the go, from a coffee shop.
现在我们吃早餐的时间越来越少了；我们在旅途中从咖啡店买一些东西。
More and more of us avoid sugar, or carbs in general.
我们越来越多的人避免糖或一般碳水化合物。
None of this bodes well for marmalade’s future.
这些对于果酱的未来来说都不是好兆头。
Its bitterness probably doesn’t help, either.
它的苦涩可能也无济于事。
We are programmed to dislike bitterness, as Jennifer McLagan explains in her book Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor.
正如詹妮弗·麦克拉根（Jennifer McLagan）在她的书《苦味：世界上最危险的味道》中所解释的那样，我们生来就不喜欢苦味。
In nature, bitterness often suggests something poisonous, which is why babies screw up their faces at bitter tastes.
在自然界中，苦味常常暗示着某种有毒的东西，这就是为什么婴儿一尝苦味就会皱起脸。
As we age, we lose taste buds, and learn to like bitter things: coffee, cigarettes, Campari, dark chocolate.
随着年龄的增长，我们失去了味蕾，并学会喜欢苦味的东西：咖啡、香烟、金巴利酒、黑巧克力。
But each is a struggle.
但每一次都是一场斗争。
And with marmalade, many of us seemingly never get off the ground, plumping instead for jam, or peanut butter.
对于果酱，我们中的许多人似乎从来没有离开过地面，而是用果酱或花生酱来代替。
It is certainly true that peanut butter and chocolate spread are gaining ground in the share of the spreads market, where marmalade resides.
毫无疑问，花生酱和巧克力酱正在果酱所在的酱料市场份额中占据一席之地。
Marmalade sales were in steady decline from 2013.
自 2013 年以来，果酱销量稳步下降。
Even in decline, though, marmalade has sway in the supermarkets because of its status as a basket item: one that shoppers use to judge where to shop.
尽管果酱的销量在下降，但由于其作为篮子商品的地位，它在超市中仍然占据着重要地位：购物者用它来判断在哪里购物。
As such, it is a common loss leader, meaning retailers sell it at a rock-bottom price to get people through their doors.
因此，它是一种常见的亏本产品，这意味着零售商以最低价格出售它，以吸引人们上门购买。
At the time of writing, a one-pound jar of marmalade can be had for as little as 27p (34¢), an impossible price on which to make a profit.
在撰写本文时，一罐一磅的果酱只需 27 便士（34 美分），这是一个不可能盈利的价格。
But, the tide may be turning.
但是，潮流可能正在转变。
The 2017 release of Paddington 2 — which involved a set piece showing Paddington making marmalade in prison — increased marmalade sales by 3 percent in the UK after a steady four-year decline, according to supermarket data collected by research firm Kantar.
根据研究公司 Kantar 收集的超市数据，2017 年上映的《帕丁顿熊 2》（其中有一个帕丁顿熊在监狱里制作果酱的场景）在英国果酱销量在经历了四年的稳定下降后增加了 3%。
It’s fitting, perhaps, that Britain’s distinctly un-British national preserve might be saved by a bear from darkest Peru.
英国明显非英国的国家保护区可能会被来自最黑暗的秘鲁的熊拯救，这也许是恰当的。
***
***
I didn’t get the conclusion I expected to when I began researching marmalade.
当我开始研究果酱时，我没有得到预期的结论。
I thought my marmalade journey would end with the festival that accompanies the World’s Original Marmalade Awards: a festival festooned in orange and oranges which celebrates this absurd tradition, as well as the people who perpetuate it.
我以为我的果酱之旅会随着世界原创果酱奖的节日而结束：一个用橙色和橙子装饰的节日，庆祝这一荒谬的传统，以及延续这一传统的人们。
In a normal year, there are classes and presentations, tastings and exhibitions, a church service, all devoted to marmalade.
在正常的年份里，会有课程、演讲、品尝和展览、教堂礼拜，所有这些都是关于果酱的。
Even the sheep go orange: 50 were dyed in readiness for this year’s festival (it was supposed to be fewer but Jane tells me they “got carried away.”) At the judging in Dalemain in February, the excitement for the festival was palpable.
就连羊也变成了橙色：有 50 只羊被染成橙色，为今年的节日做好准备（本来应该更少，但简告诉我，它们“得意忘形了。”）二月份在戴尔曼举行的评审会上，人们对节日的兴奋之情溢于言表。
But of course, it was not to be: COVID-19 swept in far more comprehensively and destructively than Storm Ciara.
但当然，事实并非如此：新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 的席卷范围比风暴席亚拉 (Ciara) 更全面、更具破坏性。
A festival that attracts hundreds of international visitors and involves repeated tastings was off the table long before we went into lockdown.
早在我们进入封锁之前，一个吸引数百名国际游客并涉及重复品尝的节日就被取消了。
Even as a peripheral player in the awards, it was deflating.
即使作为奖项中的边缘球员，它也令人泄气。
But then I came home and made marmalade.
但后来我回家做了果酱。
***
***
I am standing in my kitchen in London in front of a large pan full of orange jelly, trying to put all the advice and tips that I was given over my four days in Dalemain into practice.
我站在伦敦的厨房里，面前是一个装满橙色果冻的大锅，试图将我在戴尔曼的四天里得到的所有建议和技巧付诸实践。
I need to make sure the peel is fully cooked before adding the sugar.
在加糖之前我需要确保果皮完全煮熟。
I need to avoid squeezing the muslin bag so the jelly doesn’t become cloudy.
我需要避免挤压平纹细布袋，这样果冻就不会变得混浊。
Despite my best efforts, I turn my back for one second (OK, two minutes) to wash out my jars for sterilizing, and turn back to find that the marmalade has whooshed up and spilled all over my hobs in a big sticky puddle.
尽管我尽了最大努力，我还是转过身去一秒钟（好吧，两分钟）清洗我的罐子进行消毒，然后回头发现果酱已经飞快地流到了我的炉灶上，变成了一个粘稠的大水坑。
I soldier on, undeterred.
我继续前进，没有被吓倒。
Fifteen sticky minutes later, my marmalade is approaching the magic 105ºC.
十五分钟后，我的果酱已经接近神奇的 105°C。
I deploy the wrinkle test — twice, just to be sure — which involves cooling a spoonful of the mixture on a frozen plate, to see if it forms a skin which wrinkles.
我部署了皱纹测试——两次，只是为了确定——其中包括将一勺混合物放在冷冻盘上冷却，看看它是否形成会起皱的皮肤。
I leave the marmalade a few minutes before potting, determined not to make the classic “potting too hot” error (which introduces tiny air bubbles into the finished product).
我在盆栽前将果酱留了几分钟，决心不犯经典的“盆栽太热”错误（这会在成品中引入微小的气泡）。
And, although no one but me or Sam will ever see this batch, I make sure each jar is filled right to the top.
而且，虽然除了我或萨姆之外没有人会看到这批产品，但我确保每个罐子都装满了。
I stand back and admire my five-and-a-half jars and…
我退后一步，欣赏我的五个半罐子，然后……
I get it.
我明白了。
Of course I do.
我当然知道。
How could I not?
我怎么能不呢？
My jelly isn’t quite crystal clear, but it is basketball orange, bright and glowing.
我的果冻不是很透明，但它是篮球橙色，明亮且发光。
I dropped saffron strands into a couple of the jars, stirring last minute, and they hang, suspended in the jelly, perfect threads.
我将藏红花丝放入几个罐子中，最后一刻搅拌，它们悬挂在果冻中，完美的线条。
It may not be award-winning, but it is the best I have ever made.
它可能没有获奖，但它是我做过的最好的。
It really does feel like I’ve potted sunshine, a moment in time.
确实感觉就像我在某个时刻浇灌了阳光。
It really does feel like I’ve potted sunshine, a moment in time.
确实感觉就像我在某个时刻浇灌了阳光。
British food writer Diana Henry describes preserving as “holding onto a season, a particular mood” — she calls it “one of the most poetic branches of cooking.” I love this idea.
英国美食作家戴安娜·亨利 (Diana Henry) 将保存描述为“保留一个季节、一种特定的心情”——她称之为“烹饪中最具诗意的分支之一”。我喜欢这个主意。
Simone de Beauvoir felt similarly.
西蒙娜·德·波伏娃也有类似的感受。
“The housewife has caught duration in the snare of sugar, she has enclosed life in jars.” There are few fruits for which this is more true than the Seville orange, which you can find in the shops for a handful of weeks; the ability to pot and revisit that season six months down the line is its own breed of kitchen magic.
“家庭主妇陷入了糖的陷阱，她把生活关在罐子里。”很少有水果比塞维利亚橙更能体现这一点，你可以在商店里找到它几个星期。六个月后重新审视那个季节的能力是它自己的厨房魔法。
Each jar tells the story of both the season and the maker.
每个罐子都讲述着季节和制造者的故事。
When I spoke to fellow judge Will Torrent about the nature of the marmalade awards, he found that this emotional quality seeped into the judging as well as making of the marmalade.
当我与评委同事威尔·托伦特谈论果酱奖的性质时，他发现这种情感品质渗透到果酱的评审和制作中。
‘There will be a story that has led to that marmalade maker entering at that point.
‘将会有一个故事导致那个果酱制造商在那时进入。
Food awards can sometimes become very serious.
食品奖有时会变得非常严肃。
It becomes very technical, and yes there is a technical element to this, but at the same time — and I think this is the way I judge — it’s, ‘How does it make me feel?’ And it brings such joy, and it rubs off on everyone else.”
它变得非常技术性，是的，这其中有技术元素，但同时——我认为这就是我判断的方式——它是，‘它让我感觉如何？’它带来了如此多的快乐，并影响到其他人。”
But right now, since global lockdown, it’s more than that.
但现在，自从全球封锁以来，情况还不止于此。
There is something inherently optimistic about preservation, about putting something away for your future.
对于保存、为未来保留一些东西，本质上是乐观的。
You are saying, “I will be here in a year’s time, and so will this marmalade.” Making marmalade is a lot of effort, and by that token, it is a commitment.
你是在说：“一年后我就会来到这里，这个果酱也会在这里。”制作果酱需要付出很多努力，因此，这是一种承诺。
Marmalade is a tether to your own future, it’s a savings account.
果酱是你自己未来的一根绳子，它是一个储蓄账户。
It is shoring yourself up against the instability and uncertainty of life.
它可以帮助你应对生活中的不稳定和不确定性。
You do not make marmalade without a small optimism, a hope of orange-colored happiness in your future.
如果你没有一点点乐观，你就不会做果酱，因为你对未来有橙色幸福的希望。
Marmalade is something stable in an uncertain world.
果酱是不确定世界中稳定的东西。
It has survived plagues and wars, fires and uprisings.
它经历了瘟疫、战争、火灾和起义而幸存下来。
I know that the marmalade I make today will still be there tomorrow.
我知道我今天做的果酱明天还会在那里。
It doesn’t actually need a festival — it doesn’t even need supermarket sales.
它实际上不需要节日——甚至不需要超市销售。
Marmalade has staying power.
果酱具有持久力。
That is surely why the British love marmalade so much: because tomorrow everything will be different, but marmalade will be the same.
这肯定就是英国人如此喜爱果酱的原因：因为明天一切都会不同，但果酱将是一样的。
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Olivia Potts is a food writer and chef.
奥利维亚·波茨 (Olivia Potts) 是一位美食作家和厨师。
After a career as a criminal barrister, she retrained in patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu.
在担任刑事律师后，她在蓝带国际学院接受了糕点师的再培训。
Her first book, A Half Baked Idea: How grief, love and cake took me from the courtoom to Le Cordon Bleu won the Fortnum & Mason Debut Food Book Award and is published by Fig Tree, Penguin.
她的第一本书《半生不熟的想法：悲伤、爱和蛋糕如何把我从法庭带到蓝带》荣获 Fortnum & Mason 首张美食图书奖，由 Fig Tree、Penguin 出版。
She is the Guild of Food Writers Food Writer of the Year 2020
她是美食作家协会 2020 年度美食作家
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Editor: Krista Stevens
编辑：克里斯塔·史蒂文斯
Fact checker: Julie Schwietert Collazo
事实核查员：Julie Schwietert Collazo