Calamansi marmalade bags silver in world tilt

MANILA, Philippines - The calamansi marmalade of the Philippines won a silver medal in the international category at the 2012 World Marmalade Championships held recently in England.

British chef and Bacolod resident Robert Harland made the local citrus fruit with brandy. 

This is the first time the Philippines has been represented at the championships, now on its seventh year.

British embassy Charge d’ Affaires Trevor Lewis congratulated Harland: “This is a great example of the UK and Philippines working together. A British national uses local produce to make marmalade in the Philippines that then wins an international award in England. It must taste good!” Harland’s citrus concoction scored 19 points out of a maximum of 20. Singaporean Sharon Lee Puay Ming won the gold medal.

“I had heard that one can make a very decent marmalade using calamansi so I decided to have a go. I liked the taste, as did friends so when I heard about the championships I thought why not give it a go. But I knew that competition would be fierce with so many entries coming in from around the world,” Harland said.

Calamansi is not very well-known in Europe and the judges noted the marmalade’s unusual taste, but they enjoyed its flavor. Harland said he intends to enter the competition again next year, but perhaps with a slightly modified recipe using whisky rather than brandy.

The organizers received over 1,700 entries from all corners of the world – a 30 percent increase over 2011, clearly showing that marmalade is as popular as ever.

The championships were part of a weekend-long marmalade festival held at the historic Dalemain Estate in England’s Lake District.

Over 70,000 British pounds, roughly P4.7 million, was raised for various charities.