A great marmalade is a bit of a balancing act. First, you’ve got to balance the sweetness of the fruit juice and sugar involved with the tartness of the citrus and bitterness of the orange rind. Then, you’ve got to find just the right balance of fruit and rind within the physical makeup of the marmalade—too much fruit, and it’s more like a jelly, too much rind, and it’s an overly-chewy mess. Luckily, when we decided to bring in a seasonal Seville Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread to our shelves, we had some real experts in our corner. Made by the same supplier in Belgium who previously demonstrated their mastery of balance with our Apricot Cardamom and Green Tea Yuzu spreads, this sweet, citric, and properly proportioned Marmalade is a triumph of harmonious flavors and textures on the palate.

Speaking of proportion, each batch is approximately 44% Seville Orange (both fruit and rind) by weight. In some parts of the word, the Seville Orange is known as “bitter orange”, and is almost never eaten raw. In a Marmalade, however, that bitterness is an asset, as it tempers the sweetness of the sugar. And in the case of Trader Joe’s Seville Orange Marmalade, it makes it an ideal topping for toast, an excellent inclusion in a parfait, and a capital companion to a bowl of cottage cheese.