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June Taylor’s clementine marmalade is complex and layered, like a Philip Glass piece, a Gabriel García Márquez novel or a long phone conversation with your mother. The sensations of sweet and tangy hit the tongue almost simultaneously and have nearly dissolved away before the sour notes kick in, along with a registering of the texture: syrupy, not gloppy or jelly-like. Finally, there’s the perfect, meaty bit of rind, neither too tough nor too wispy, with a firm but yielding bite and hint of bitterness.
Taylor is a preserves whisperer, coaxing nuance and depth of flavor from fruit, like a good sports coach might work with an athlete. In July, she announced she was planning to retire after 30 years and closing her West Berkeley shop, June Taylor Company. Since news of the closing went public, customers have made a run on its jams, butters, marmalades and syrups (one person placed a $1,500 order).