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Comment by bewilderbeast | Hacker News Reader

Portuguese name for quince is marmelo, hence marmelada.

Also, the husks and pits (what remains) of the quince are used to make a quince jelly, that we call "geleia de marmelo" (a liquid jelly):

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A...

In English you have jam and jelly; in Portuguese we have compota which is jam made from fruit pulp, geleia which is liquid jelly with a consistency of jam usually made with the rest of the fruit like husks and/or pits (though the name is also used for other products like bee's royal jelly), and gelatina which is the solidified jelly.

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The etymology of the Portugese "marmelo" is clear, from Latin "melimelum", itself from the Greek "μελίμηλον", meaning "sweet apple". The product was famous, so the word was borrowed to sell orange paste, later orange jam.

I already had a glimpse of the story thanks to a chance reading of the etymology of the French "marmelade", but I enjoyed reading the whole story.

https://www.littre.org/definition/marmelade (~1875) / https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/marmelade (~1980)

> meaning "sweet apple"

Funny thing is it's not sweet at all, more like a very bitter apple.

For additional information: LS entry for μῆλον http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?... and μελῐμηλον http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?...

In English we have jam, jelly, preserves, and marmalade. If you’re feeling fancy maybe a berry compote.

And "conserve".

Nice add! Had to look it up. It’s dried fruits and nuts turned into something “jelly like”.

https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-jam-j...

In portuguese those would be: compota, geleia, conservas (preserved in sugar syrup) and marmelada. I think compote and jam are the same thing.

> I think compote and jam are the same thing.

Jam is generally eaten with something else, compote can be eaten on its own or be a "base" e.g. you'd spread jam on bread but you'd eat compote with a spoon. Compotes are jams but in effect closer to mashes.

Thanks, I didn't know that. The distinction does not exist in portuguese (my native language). The word for jam is "compota", and I don't know of any portuguese sweet like what you describe as compote.

humm i think actually in portuguese we have: doce, compota, geleia, conserva e marmelada/goiabada.

doce (sweet) is a sugar syrup with fruits normally mashed, this is not preserve this is made to be served. compota (jam) is mashed whole fruits with sugar (pure de frutos). geleia (jelly) is fruit juice jellied or thicken. conserva (preserve/compote) is whole fruits preserved in a sugary syrup. marmelada/goiabada is the same as a compota whit a mashed whole fruits with sugar, but since these 2 fruits create a thick jellied paste, we give it a proper name.

sot he is talking about is a conserva/preserve/compote is all the same thing, its a whole fruits you cant spread that, its for eating or making other things like cakes and such and Portugal has plenty of those as well hehehe :D

We also have compote in English, which is a dessert made from fruit in syrup.

OT: Ugh, emojis.

We took them out.

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