You know how Chet Baker said "You have to be a pretty good drummer to be better than no drummer at all."? Jam is like that. A tartine of just sweet butter and flaky salt is splendor. To earn its place, jam has to be better than good bread and fresh butter, combined. It's unlikely that such a thing can be bought.
But it can be made, more easily than you might think. Given the intimidatingly large sacks of nectarines I have been bringing home from the weekly market, it must be made (the 4 cakes we baked last week did not make use of them all.) Bounty is not just privilege but obligation- in Greece our season of generosity is full, nothing to take lightly. How to extend the pleasure?- Urban Canning. Classically the province of the homestead or farm, preserving scales down beautifully to a sleeker, more compact urban activity. Small batch (henceforth "Boutique Batch") canning gives excellent results. The lower volume's shorter cooking time makes for a fresher, brighter taste- its chief recommendation. Also, it is an approachable project. The quantities involved in serious traditional preserving are overwhelming for our urban scale- architecturally and above all psychologically. Boutique batch canning, on the other hand, is truly a delight, not as ambitious as it sounds, easily integrated into the urban kitchen.
The low commitment batch size encourages risk-taking. Were I making 20 jars of jam, I might not be so casual in adding some orange flower water. Making just two or three jars, you can afford to play. I added some when I took it off the boil. I tasted it, and then I added some more. The ethereal perfume of spring in the fullness of harvest captured every nuance of the life of the fruit. It was transcendent- a very big word for jam.
We liked it so much I added orange flower water to the next two batches also. To apricot jam I add the noix- the almond-like fruit in the center of the pit that is a principal ingredient in amaretto. To some peaches I will add ginger and cloves, to watermelon rind, some cardamon and zest of lime.
No special ingredients are needed for assured success- no pectin, no special sugar.
We'll need:
a jar lifter
a jar lifter
a wide-mouthed funnel
a mesh strainer (for dipping the lids into the sterilizing boiling water)
jars short enough to be covered by water in your tallest kettle
freshly purchased lids
a cup to measure with
2 or 3 small white plates
2 tall pots- one in which to cook the jam, the other in which to boil the jars.
And for the jam:
fruit- nectarines
sugar
a lemon
some orange flower water
Begin with barely ripe (almost not ready to eat yet), vividly tangy fruits. You might think that in starting out with ripe fruits rich in natural sweetness, you could reduce the sugar. Alas no- reducing the sugar increases the time it needs to cook down into jam. The extra time on the stove boils the verve out of the fruit, in flavor and color both. Tangy fruits make lively jam.
For firm fruits that are cut into small pieces:
1 C sugar : 2 C fruit.
For fruits that are chopped and mashed, such as apricots or berries (no air in the measuring cup):
3 C sugar : 4 C fruit
This is not at all difficult or complicated if we use the following steps:
1. Start by placing 2 or 3 small white plates in the freezer- an easy way to test when the jam is ready.
2. Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water and put it on to boil- this is for sterilizing our jars before hand and processing them afterward.
3. Cut up as much fruit as you plan to use. I ended up with 8 C/ 2 liters.
4. Measure out the appropriate amount of sugar and set it aside- in this case, 4 C.
5. Put the fruit, without the sugar, on to cook until it begins to release some juices, rich with pectin in barely ripe fruits (for a quicker jell).
6. When the fruit starts to cook down, add the sugar. The pot will suddenly seem to be full of liquid, with some fruit floating on op. Do not be concerned.
7. Stir the jam with a wooden spatula- something to make as much contact with the surface as possible.
8. The water should be boiling now. Put the clean jars into it for a few minutes and then set them out on a towel next to the jam. Keep stirring the jam all the while.
9. After perhaps 15 minutes at a full boil, the jam will begin to thicken a bit. Hot jam is always a liquid. To see how close we are to the right thickness, take a plate from the freezer and put a spoonful of jam on it. Let it cool a moment and drag a finger through it.
If there is a clean path, like this, that does not close up, the jam is ready. Taste the jam from the plate. If it is too sweet, which is very likely, add a squeeze of lemon and taste again. Keep adding a few drops until you have a good balance- sweet yes, but lively. Add some orange flower water and taste. I started with one teaspoon, tasted, and added another teaspoon.
10. Ladle the jam into the sterilized jars, leaving a little space at the top.
11. Dip the clean new lids into the boiling water to sterilize for a half minute ad screw them onto the jars, not too tightly, making sure the rims of the jars are completely clean and dry and free of jam (if necessary clean with a folded paper towel dipped in the boiling water).
12. Put the filled and closed jars into the boiling water, making sure they are completely covered by a centimeter or so and adding more water if necessary. Let them boil for 10 minutes.
Remove them from the water with the jar lifter and place them on a kitchen towel. Every now and then you will hear a satisfying "ping!"- this is the sound of the lid sealing- it will go from being almost imperceptibly convex to clearly concave- the center of the lid has no give when you press on it, the sign of a good seal.
I will not say this is fast- you could easily listen to a whole album of Chet Baker for instance- but it is very simple and gives enormous satisfaction. Besides making bread from scratch, there are few things you can do in the kitchen that give you such a clear sense of self-reliance, a connection to the season, and a connection to the agrarian heritage most all of us share. When you see those jars glittering on your shelves, you may find it hard to stop. No matter- sharing is the sweetest of the kitchen's pleasures.
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