preserves Archives - attheitaliantable.com

I just love the way the word “jam” sounds. Jam. Sam. I’m on the lam. We had a discussion this past week in my culinary tour group on the difference between preserves, jams and jellies. According to an expert in our group, preserves are made with whole fruit, jams are cut up fruit, and jellies are just the juice. I cook a lot of fruit in season, combining the whole or halved fruit with sugar and lemon and cooking it until it’s thick. Some might call what I do “preserves, but I like to call it jam.

In Tuscany the middle of June means cherries and it is a season all to short for me. We have several different varieties, some are almost black when ripe and all of them are plump and juicy. They’re the perfect snack, a slight crunch as your teeth break the skin, then a burst of sweet tart juice that explodes in your mouth. I love cherries too.

Since today was my first day off in a month and tomorrow begins another week before I’ll be able to call any time my own, I thought it would be a good idea to make cherry jam. My sister Mary, who is in Italy working with me this month, looked at me like I was nuts and said “Are you sure you have time to do that?” I replied, “If not now, when?” I can’t imagine cherry season ending before I’m able to capture the deliciousness of them into jars. We can enjoy them months later on vanilla ice cream and I’m sure my culinary group this week will appreciate them on toast for breakfast!

So here’s how you make cherry jam: Pit your cherries, weigh them and use half that amount of sugar. I had a kilo of cherries so I used half a kilo of sugar. Put the fruit and sugar in a large pot with a heavy bottom. Peel half a lemon into strips and put the peel in the fruit, then squeeze the juice of a whole lemon over all. Stir and place on a low fire. As it heats, the fruit gives up juice and it becomes very liquidy. Bring to a slow boil and allow it to cook until the liquid becomes thicker. Be careful not to burn it or allow it to boil over, that’s a mess to clean up.

You know it’s done when a small amount of the juice on a plate is thick and sticky after you’ve blown on it to cool it off. Then just spoon it into jelly jars that have lids with good seals on the inside. You don’t need to process the jars, the sugar and acidity of the fruit preserve it. Put the lid on tight and as the jam cools it forms a vacuum seal and you’re good to go.

Our season for fruit is underway. The strawberries finished in May, making way for cherries and mulberries in June followed quickly by apricots. We look forward to lots of peaches and plums all summer long, finishing with figs in September. Rest assured. I’ll be making my whole-fruit jam for a while.

No one loves the abundance of summer more than I do, but I gotta say, sometimes it really kicks me around! When those figs, plums, eggplants and tomatoes are ready to be cooked down, made into marmalade, preserved or pickled, there is no waiting around.

I came back from my trek to Campania in the southern part of Italy with a huge sack of lemons to make limoncello, along with a crate of eggplants that I practically got for a song, to my home in Tuscany where the fig tree in the yard is loaded with figs and I haven’t had time to eat them much less preserve them, and I still have plums and peaches in the fridge since before I went away that at this point are only good for jam. See what I mean?

So I took a deep breath, cleaned the kitchen and got right into it. I bought some more jars and new lids at the Caccia Pesca (local hunting and tackle shop that also sells household goods) and spent the evening peeling lemons for limoncello, slicing and salting eggplants for pickles, cooking figs for jam and plums, peaches and tomatoes for chutney.

Ah the abundance of summer! It will be so satisfying to see the rows of jars on the shelf and know that I’ve preserved in time a little of the warmth and joy that is summer.

Simple Fruit Jam

2 lb fruit, preferably fresh picked or locally stolen
juice of one lemon
1 lb sugar
1 wild apple, chopped or grated, skin on

If using plums or anything with a stone, cut the fruit in half and stone it. Otherwise use the whole fruit. Wash it and put it into a large pot along with the lemon juice, apple and sugar. Put it on a medium burner and allow to cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Allow the jam to cook at a slow boil, the fruit will give up juice and you must allow it to cook off without letting it burn. Take some of the juice a put it on a small plate, allowing it to cool so you can check the consistency. You want it to be jelled when cool.

Take canning jars and their lids, wash them well and rinse them with hot water. Spoon the jam into the jars, put the lids on tight and allow them to cool by themselves. The seal will form as the jar cools. Line them up on your shelf and enjoy looking at them until it’s time to open and eat them!

Buon Appetito! Gina

Cherry Jam

Preserving Summer’s Bounty: jams, pickles and chutney

Simple Fruit Jam