Jam has long history, the first recipe for jam appears in the first known cookbook: De Re Coquinaria (The Art of Cooking) which dates from the 1st century AD. In its simplest form, it was soft fruit heated with sugar (or honey, in this case) and cooled, then stored. Come the crusades, warriors brought back more complex concoctions from the Middle East. Jam’s popularity as a delicacy – rather than just a way to eat fruit – took off. Joan of Arc ate quince jam before going into battle as it filled her with courage. Nostradamus loved the stuff so much he wrote an entire treatise on it, including a love-potion version that, if passed from mouth to mouth, would strike a woman with ‘a burning of her heart to perform the love-act.’
Sailors and pirates stockpiled jam on board their ships as it became clear that Vitamin C prevented scurvy. Meanwhile, Louis XIV was so passionate about it that he insisted that every meal be finished with jams served in special ornate silver dishes.
But large-scale jam production did not become possible until the discovery of pasteurisation. In 1785 Napolean Bonaparte offered a reward to anyone who could find a way to preserve large quantities of food for soldiers. The lucky winner was Nicholas Appert, who worked out that boiling at high temperatures and then sealing in airtight containers kept food safe. Louis Pasteur validated these empirical findings in the next century.
During WWII there was widespread anxiety about a shortage of food. The Women’s Institute came to the rescue. A government grant in 1940 gave them £1,400 to buy sugar for jam. As a result, 1,631 tons of preserves were made in more than 5,000 ‘preservation centres’ in farm kitchens, village halls or sheds. They were largely made by volunteers, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. 5,300 tons of fruit were preserved between 1940 and 1945.
However Marmalade is not jam!!!!
Some have gossipped....marmalade was invented when Mary Queen of Scots was suffering from sea-sickness (Marie est malade, in the fashionable French spoken in court at the time). Her doctor whipped up a concoction of orange peel and sugar which cured her ailment immediately. It’s more likely, however, that the word comes from ‘marmelo’ – the Portuguese for quince. Marmalade inspires its own cultish rituals. Old-fashioned Englishmen will only eat the stuff if it is homemade, dark and thick-cut. Kitchens constantly debate whether marmalade should be the consistency of wallpaper paste or paint. I am a sweet slightly bitter marmalade girl, I like it just between paint and wallpaper paste with visible chunks of peel.
I love making jam, it's a hot sticky business with delicious results. Last summer I made a scrumptious Apricot & Strawberry Fragoli Jam, it was what summer feels like in a jar. The colour is that of a August sunset, the warm yellows melding into brilliant oranges and deep reds....when you crack open the jar the rush of strawberries comes at you like a freight train...you would think you were out picking strawberries in the summer sun. The first spoonful you can taste the sweetness of the strawberries and the slight tang of the apricots...it rolls across your tongue with a tropical fruit finish. It's a dangerous jam...if one is not careful you might find yourself standing in the fridge door at 3am eating spoonful after spoonful right out of the jar. Not that I have ever done this.....
Apricot & Strawberry Fragoli Jam
2 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered (your best to use fresh picked strawberries)
2 lb apricots, pitted and cut in quarters
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
7 c sugar
1/4 cup Fragoli Liqueur
Combine the fruit, lemon juice, vanilla and sugar in a large pot. Let sit 30-60 minutes, allowing the sugar to draw some liquid out of the fruit.
Place the pot over a medium-high flame. Bring to a boil, stirring often. When the jam comes to a rolling boil, turn heat down to medium, the cook, stirring occasionally, until it passes a jelly test. Add Fragoli and stir to finish.
Please follow the appropriate canning guidelines for your area if you would like to preserve this recipe.
Grow Harvest Cook Eat
Jenn
