Jam is the Jewel that Brightens a Gray Day.

Breakfast with the New York Review of Books

piece on Bee Wilson's "Consider the Fork" 

My first introduction to canning was in my Aunt Meri's kitchen. The project- apricot jam to which the delicate inner noix of the kernels add an amaretto perfume. This being Oregon, the bounty is overwhelming, and the canny householder is skilled in preserving it, with some excellent assistance when needed (I've linked to an invaluable resource here- have a look!). The aim of canning originally is preserving bounty- for a short time, we have tons of gorgeous stuff. How do we keep it? Make it last? So of course when canning, one's first instinct is often to go big- flats of fruit, crates of jars. It's a satisfying day, and those jars lined up on the shelf, well, they look like nothing less than prudence and wisdom.

Urban canning has the same spirit to it, but, like much else in our urban lives, it is scaled down. Of course, we can get a flat of fruit and a crate of jars and have at it- but such an ambitious project can start to careen from rewarding to chaotic very quickly, especially if canning is not part of your usual routine. As in farmhouse canning, in urban canning just make good use of what you have lots of on hand. It's easy for enthusiasm to get the better of you at a lovely market and overbuy some beautiful seasonal fruit. Also, late shoppers are often offered ridiculously large bags of fruit (smallish? a little under or over-ripe? slightly blemished?) at a price merely symbolic of commerce. We keep fruit trays quite full- they're so nice to look at- and rotate the ripe out and the freshly bought in. This is where we get dessert- fresh, in pies and tarts, combostas, and of course, jam. These plums are what got rotated out this week- a little wrinkly, yet still curiously firm- not very tempting to eat out of hand:

- yet still quite fragrant. Many say that a top quality result demands top quality ingredients. This may be true, but a little finessing and cajoling brings lusciousness from more humble examples, so much so that the gap between the exquisite and the ordinary- very great in the fresh article- closes considerably when you consider the final product. Is this the best plum jam anyone has ever had? Perhaps technically not, but it is so good it's hard to imagine a better one. Shining a little light on the wallflowers of your pantry is simply the right thing to do- they deserve it.

A stormy day- the perfect occasion.

This small batch, spontaneous 'why-not?' jam making has a lot going for it. Since it's just a jar or two, there's no need to sterilize the jars and lids in a huge pot of boiling water then seal the filled jars by submerging them in boiling water again- this process is for safe storage in a pantry for a long period. We're using this jam right away- so it will go into the fridge, just like supermarket jam that's already been opened up. This means we can skip both the sterilizing and the more arduous water bath sealing of the jars. This also means we need just the one large pot for the jam itself, and not a second one for the jars and processing.

The second advantage is that a small batch comes to the right consistency quickly, and that keeps the flavors bright and fresh. A too-large batch can take a long time to cook, giving the fruit a tired flavor. It's also a dangerous business- jam splatters and sticks and burns, and a shallow batch is easier to manage.

Another huge boon to jam making? It perfumes the house with a sweet delirious scent- forget bread making- jam is a pervasive, lingering fragrance. Two jars sweeten the house as well as twelve. On account of this alone I have made jam twice in one week, the second time to cover the scent of broiled fish.

On to the jam itself then- there's really nothing to it. Before starting with the fruit, put 2 or 3 little plates in the freezer- we'll need them for the easy and reliable freezer test. Then, take whatever fruit you have lots of on hand, wash it, and crush it or cut it into pieces. 

Irregular pieces are fine- leave some large ones in for texture.

Squash these down until they're juicy, leaving some large pieces intact, and measure by volume (leaving no empty space between the pieces). Measure the fruit into a large deep pot, put it on to simmer, and add 3/4 of the volume of the fruit in granulated sugar (4 cups fruit, 3 C sugar)- (this ratio is from Marion Cunningham in the Fanny Farmer cookbook, which in this as in all things had proved completely trustworthy).   

 

Cook over a brisk heat- almost high- and do not leave the stove for a moment. All of that sugar and it burns easily, but a quick cooking result in a vibrant fresh flavor. Stir all the while- I use a flat bottomed wooden spatula which makes it easy to maintain constant contact with the bottom surface of the pan. If you hear a dry, scraping "koosh" as you drag the spoon over the bottom of the pot, turn it down. After about 5 minutes, the steam over the pot will have lessened considerably, and the bubbles will be larger, and perhaps slower. Lift the spoon- if it seems to have thickened a little, you can take out one of the plates. There are of course ways to do this with a thermometer, but this visceral test is more fun. Take the jam from the heat for the moment you need for the test so that it doesn't scorch. Put a spoonful of jam on the frozen plate, where it will quickly become the consistency the final product would be. Drag your finger through the jam, and see if it leaves a clear trail. If the trail starts to close up, like this:

Not quite ready.

-it needs a little more time on the stove. When it looks like this:

Just right!

-it's ready.

Have your clean jars on the counter, and if you have one, a wide-mouthed funnel (very handy for anytime you need to put anything in a jar):

It takes ages to cool, but you'll have it for breakfast the next day or a midnight snack. This batch of plums made 4 cups of prepared fruit, and that made almost 2 450 g/16 oz jars. If I didn't mention- the house smells fabulous and the scent lingers until you cook something else.