The Art of Robert Lambert's Marmalade

​Jam-maker Robert Lambert styles himself an artist, and you can taste that ambition in the jams themselves. He paints in muted tones of rare and exotic citrus, accented with brush strokes of of flowers, spirits and spice.

These are less in the flavor of candied citrus peels, granulated with sugar, and more in the spirit of the edible citrus skins one finds on kumquats and its variants. The fruit flavor may be foremost, but the bitterness of pith is an obvious, and lingering, offset.

Five Mandarin Marmalade
The combination utilizes Calamondin, Rangpur, Sampson, Oroval, and Daisy Mandarins "and the juice from 20 other varieties." On opening the jar the notes of cooked peel jump out like a jack-in-the-box-- you expect it, but it's still surprising. The marmalade is thick, chunky, and almost gelatinous. In the mouth the soft scented flavors of the mandarin present first, followed by a mild tint of bitterness that builds slightly toward the finish.

Five Lime Marmalade
The five are: Rangpur, Kaffir, Bearss, Limequats (a hybrid of lime and kumquat) and Palestinian sweet limes. The first taste is more spice than lime, like the best elements of a mince meat pie, but the lime follows quickly, in the spirit of key-lime pie and fresh limeade, without the intense sweetness. The tongue tingles at the end from the pleasant acidity of the citrus.

Yuzu Marmalade.
Popular in Japan, Yuzu has been showing up with growing frequency in the Bay Area, often in sauce or condiment form, both for food and cocktail creations. Robert adds Texas lemon, Meyer Lemon and grapefruit juice. The marmalade is dense as quince paste. The citrus note sparkles through with a kafir-leaf-like floral feel, and the modest defining bitterness of the pith wafts lightly in the background.

Lambert works his art in solitude, with his only outside help coming from "expert marmalade cutters." He crafts the recipes to meet the fruit he finds. "Unless it's very different from everything else on the market, I won't bother," he says.

He even produces "rare limited edition sets" which are "numbered and signed by the artist," but we haven't been invited to that showing yet. If you come across some of Lambert's limited edition in-jar art, and have a view, please let us know.

You can find Robert Lambert Marmalades at Bi-Rite Creamery, Bittersweet Café, Oakland, San Francisco, Village Market, and other shops as well as the Grand Lake, Oakland and San Rafael Civic Center Farmer's Market -- alongside the artist himself. You can also order direct online.

Contact Ben Narisin at sfoodieben@gmail.com . Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook.