Marmalade is a jam (jelly) made from oranges, traditionally served at breakfast time. The best kind is made from slightly bitter Seville oranges. There are many kinds of traditional marmalades in Britain, but the original is Scottish Dundee Kieller marmalade.

According to the legend Mrs Janet Keiller first made it in Dundee (a major port city at the time) in 1797 when her husband brought a cargo of oranges that were being sold cheaply after a Spanish ship was forced to take refuge in the port during a storm. Needing to use up lots of Seville oranges in one go Mrs Keiller decided to make them into a preserve and Keiller Dundee Marmalade was born.

It's hardly surprising, therefore, that marmalade figures as a major component in many Scottish recipes. Two of these are presented below:

Dundee Lamb Chops

Ingredients:

4 lamb leg chops

75ml vinegar

1/2 tsp freshly-grated ginger

4 tbsp marmalade (Keiller's for authenticity)

4 slices orange, for garnish

60g butter

75ml water

paprika

salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Use a heavy-based frying pan with a tight-fitting lid. Melt the butter in this and brown the chops in the butter. Sprinkle the ginger and paprika over the chops then season them. Add the vinegar and water then place a generous tablespoon of marmalade atop each chop. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 45 minutes on very low heat (add a little more water if required).

Serve garnished with a twist of orange along with boiled potatoes and fresh green vegetables.

Orange and Marmalade Cake

Ingredients:

240g self-raising flour

2 eggs, beaten

90g caster sugar

120g butter

1 drop vanilla extract

3 tbsp orange marmalade

1 tsp finely-grated orange zest

2 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

Method:

Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Cube the butter and add to the flour mixture. Rub in with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs then add the sugar, half the orange zest, the eggs, marmalade, milk and vanilla extract. Depending on the thickness of your marmalade it may be easier to mix if you add the marmalade and milk to a pan and heat gently until the mixture becomes liquid before adding to the flour.

Mix well, until you achieve the consistency of a thick batter then turn this into a well-greased 15 20cm round cake tin. Place in an oven pre-heated to 180'C and bake for around 70 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre emerges cleanly. (You may need to pace a sheet of cooking foil over the top of the cake about half-way through cooking to prevent it from browning too much.

When done, allow the cake to cool in the tin for about five minutes. Take out of the tin, sprinkle the remaining orange zest over the top then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I hope you enjoyed these Scottish recipes and that you are now ready to find out more about Scottish and British cookery.