When I think of jam I’m reminded of Diane Keaton in Baby Boom when she leaves behind her hectic New York management consultancy for what she thinks will be paradise in Vermont, only to discover she’s bored out of her mind and ends up making cupboards full of apple sauce. This being Hollywood her ‘Country Baby’ apple sauce (for which we can substitute jam) makes her millions and places Sam Shepherd in her path – if only real life were like that!
Better still we should remind ourselves of what a wonderful, fragrant, evocative, perfumed, summer-infused delight jam is.
There is the man in Gosford Park from ‘upstairs’ who sneaks ‘downstairs’ and into the jam store room, takes a spoon and sits down to eat secretly from a jar of strawberry jam to transport himself from the reality of his life unravelling in the rooms up above him. The shelves are groaning with these comforting, edible sweet salves which his upstairs wife has never and will never know how to make – but the maid downstairs does and thus is able to offer comfort that his wife cannot.
We may be a million miles away from Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park, but jam-making remains (Of The Day) a wonderful, satisfying, back-down-to-basics makeitandmendit activity.
So why make it?
There’s no point making jam unless you have a good supply of fruit, preferably grown yourself or given to you from a glut-laden fruit grower (apart from marmalade – that’s a different story).
The idea is to get your hands on fruit that cost you next to nothing or nothing at all and by simply adding sugar, time and a little effort you end up with fabulous, valuable store cupboard gold.
You will also be doing your bit for the environment by using up all those left over jars that you’ve collected or that other people will shower upon you when they realise that you make great jam!
So make friends with someone who grows fruit, or go fruit picking yourself and choose a jam that you know you will like. My favourites are blackcurrant ( I have four bushes which have been laden this year), plum ( I have one mature tree which is looking good so far), rhubarb (but I don’t often make this into jam as I’ve usually eaten the rhubarb before I get to the jam stage) and chilli jam or ‘chelly’ which is a Nigella Lawson triumph.
What’s the point in buying expensive fruit to turn it into jam? The only exception for me is chilli and red pepper jam which I do buy the fruit for, as I make it all year round.
What equipment do you need?
Firstly invest in a good stainless steel preserving pan – I bought mine for about £35. This seems a lot but it is a beautiful pan that does the job brilliantly and cleans like a dream. It is also perfect on Bonfire night for making and serving mulled wine and for boiling a large ham at Christmas – so not a wasted investment.
>> There’s a good choice of pans and other jam making equipment at reasonable prices on Amazon
Then a thermometer is a good idea – mine came free when I bought the pan – VALUE!! I don’t use this all the time as I find the cold saucer set test is just as good, but for some temperamental jams a thermometer does come in handy.
A jam funnel is helpful but beware – mine is too wide at the jar end and doesn’t fit into the neck of many jars that I use for jam so shop around for a narrow-funneled funnel!
Labels – this is the fun part – Lakeland make plenty of nice labels or you can make your own. It’s your bit of personalising your product once the jam is in jars and cooled off.
That’s about it on the equipment front. Perhaps vinyl gloves if you are doing a lot of fruit preparation as your hands can get very stained – for example removing the stones from plums.
Follow a good old-fashioned recipe from Good Housekeeping, Delia or similar and you’re away.
However in the summer, one doesn’t want to be indoors making jam……so saying, it’s lashing down outside as I write so I may just venture up to the freezer and drag out the remains of last years blackcurrants and get jamming…
>> Nigella Lawson ‘Christmas’ for her Chilli Jam
>> Good Housekeeping – old editions preferably for all sorts of jam recipes as different fruits require more or less sugar and some need help on the pectin (setting) front.
Or if you want to go back to the queen of wartime making and mending try the great Marguerite Patten’s >> The Basic Basics: Jams, Preserves and Chutneys
Posted by Clare Flynn on July 29, 2009 at 11:38pm
As well as making me want to have a go at making my own jam, I just love the look of the jars in the first image - can we see more please? - they look beautiful! Anne-Marie Flynn