Category: Fruit

Fig, pear, walnut, pine nut, sesame preserve with mastic and aniseed

Inspired by the Lebanese, “M’rabbah al teen” dried fig jam, Aegean ingredients and leanings this is what I think my Nana would have called a “sweetmeat”; something so delectably fine it deserved to be eaten just by itself (Although I have eaten it with creamy thick sheep’s “Suzme” yoghurt and salty crystalline “Tulum” goat cheese).

It melds the tahini-like taste of sesame seeds, the crunch of nuts, the stickiness of the figs, the indescribable taste of mastic (sakız) and the zing of the aniseed, into a stellar confection.

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Wild Blackberry & Apple Jam

Sometimes things just gel and so it is with this fruit-forward jam. The wild blackberries are more intense than their farmed cousins and they marry pleasingly with the tart under-ripe windfall apples. The shiny black jars tho’ make the scratches and the brushes with stinging nettles all worthwhile!

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Cherry Negroni soft set jam

take one part VBF (Very Best Friend), one part FCB (Favourite Cocktail Bar – and I have one downtown Bucharest replete with home-made syrups, fresh herbs and burly bartenders) , add two Negronis and mix gently with the latest gossip – Voila! “Negroni Night”!

Cherry Negroni jam may just be the pick-me-up you need after such a soirée; spread on toast and butter with a restorative coffee it is just perfect.

Ingredients for 5-6 200ml jars

  • 1.0kgs de-stoned sour cherries ( buy 1.2 kgs)
  • 300g thinly sliced oranges (approx 1 large orange) A food processor is useful for this
  • 450ml water to boil the orange slices in
  • 1 .0 kg fructose (regular sugar also works fine)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 200ml bitters/ vermouth such as Cinzano Rosso or Ramazotti

How To

  • The night before, macerate the cherries in the fructose and refrigerate. A minimum of 8 hours is good. If time is short then bring to a low boil and switch the heat off – leave to macerate 2 hours. This allows the sugar to permeate the fruit and prevent “floating fruit” in the finished jam.
  • Boil the orange slices in the water with the lid on (you need that cooking liquid)
  • Day two: Combine all ingredients in your jam pan and bring the fruit to a boil starting at a low heat first.
  • Large bubble stage: Boil at a medium heat – the fructose has a lower melting point than regular sugar so it can burn on the bottom of the pan. At first it will froth and the pectin will create a scum – skim off as much of the scum as you can. Let it boil away because magical things are happening as well as some evaporation of liquids. Approx 30-40 mins
  • Small bubble stage: Boil at the highest heat until the bubbles are smaller and the jam has changed in appearance and looks “glassy” (in fact its refractive index has changed! as has it’s moisture content) Approx 10-15 mins
  • Test the jam for a soft set: on a plate in the freezer – remember this is a soft set jam.. If you have a jam thermometer , the jam should reach 102C (104-105C for a hard set)
  • Now add the bitters and turn down to the lowest setting. Cook for 2-3 minutes just so any harshness from the alcohol disappears.
  • Pot it into hot jars sterilised in a solution of bicarbonate of soda, the lids too.
  • Turn the jars upside down to sterilise the airspace or water bath them or process them in your dishwasher on the hottest setting – as you prefer.