It happened a few weeks ago, on the 4th of July to be exact. In Montreal that day passes like any other, but I must have felt the vibe across the border because without thinking, I donned a red dress with a blue and white belt. Then I did something I’d never done before: I made jam.
I knew I didn’t want some sticky, gooey, sickly-sweet spread. I wanted to taste incredible Quebec strawberries at their peak so I used an approximate 2:1 fruit-sugar ratio. It came out glossy, fire-engine red, full-fruit flavoured and rather loosey-goosey. Something you could just as easily spoon over ice cream or toast. Oh and I made three batches at once – one strawberry-basil-lime, one strawberry-balsamic, and one strawberry-mint-black-pepper.
My first jam ever: strawberry, three ways (balsamic, basil & lime, mint & black pepper)
4.5 cups strawberry (x 3)
2.5 cups sugar (x 3)
1 sachet liquid pectin (x 3)
I basically followed the instructions in the packet of Certo – boil the fruit and suagr, add pectin, boil. Then I added one tbsp of balsamic to the first batch, about 1 tbsp of mint and some black pepper to the second (inspired by Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini, who was inspired by Christine Ferber), and to the third I added 1.5 tbsp of lime juice, about 1 tsp of lime zest and about 1 tbsp of chopped basil. All turned out strawberry-tastic, though the mint was my fave on account of its exquisite minty-freshness, and my second-fave was the basil-lime on account of its tanginess and the balsamic, while good, didn’t light my hair on fire. Anyway… I made jam!!!! (And yes, I know, there are those who believe that pectin = cheating. More debate on that later. For now I’m just happy that no jars exploded.)
3 Comments
Hi Genevieve,
Nice to see and read about you in the paper and on your site. I also love preserving and have done many types over the years. I plan on preserving with my wonderful herbs and produce from Anny’s organic garden this year. Good thing your jam did not set your gorgeous red hair on fire – it would have ruined it’s lovely color!!
Hope to see you again soon.
Louise Sanchez (mother of the talented Sanchez Brothers)
Hi Genevieve,
I enjoyed reading about you and your blog in the Gazette. I inherited from my mother a love of homemade jam and preserves. I have had mixed success making my own, but sometimes the disasters turned out to be successes! I grew up in Ireland and I have very strong memories of picking blackberries from the hedgerows along the roads and helping my mother make jam with our haul. Of course my sisters and I ate more berries then we brought home. Mum would cook the berries until they started to fall apart and we would spoon the sauce over vanilla ice-cream and yoghurt. I still do this today! Spicy crab-apple jelly, gooseberry jam, rhubarb & ginger jam, sliced warm beetroot sprinkled with salt.I could go on, and on and on… My parents grew a lot of our fruit and veg and my mother preserved a lot.
One of my favourite cookbooks is Simone Sekers’ ‘Quick and Easy Preserves’. Her ‘Fierce Garlic Paste’, ‘Courgette Chutney’,'Rhubarb, Orange & Ginger Jam,’ Potted Herb Cheeze’ and ‘Spiced Oil’ are fantastic! I generally reduce the sugar content in a lot of my preserves as I find it can overwhelm the flavours. However, this does shorten their shelf life!!
Happy Preserving!
Maria
Hi Maria,
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Wow, Sekers’ book sounds great, thank you for the tip. I’ll have to look into it, then perhaps blog about some of the recipes (though I always seem to adapt them a little). Am slowly building my canning library, so interesting to read about how many ways there are to go about making jams and pickles etc. I’m learning a lot.
And yes, I’ve realized that using less sugar means the jams last less long but I’m willing to pay the price, like you, of a shorter shelf life if I can get that great fruit flavour at its peak!
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