Preserves

This is a very satisfying time of year for cooks. Pungent Pickles, Chunky Chutneys, Mom's Marmalade and Delicious Jams and Jellies. If you're not lucky enough to have an allotment, you can visit pick your own farms or forage from local hedgerows. You can find crab-apples on Hampstead Heath, mulberries in Clapham, quinces in St. John Wood and lots of blackberries along the Oxford Canal and it's cheaper than shopping at your local supermarket.

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Photographer: Chizuko Kokimura

Chutney's are the easiest preserves to make, especially when British gardens produce bumper crops of fruit and vegetables. The whole point of chutney is to charm the tastebuds with sweet, spicy and sour flavours to accompany cheeses, cold meats, pies and to transform modest meals like bangers and mash. A good chutney can be a slow process. Chopping fruit and vegetables by hand takes longer than using a food processor, but your efforts will be repaid by the appearance and texture of the finished product, real food with real flavour. They should be almost jammy with well blended flavours, such as Pear & Pumpkin, Red Onion Marmalade, Pear & Lemon, Damson, Piccalilli, Spiced Cranberries or Green Tomato & Orange. Use a tied muslin bag to infuse the spices and herbs. They should then be stored for at least 3 months, in a cool dark place, before using which will mellow and mature them, just in time for Christmas. 

It's also nice to build up a supply of Jams and Jellies from soft summer fruits, stocking the larder for the cold and dreary winter months ahead.  Once you have retreated to the kitchen and are listening to your favourite radio programme, you can spend a rewarding afternoon chopping, simmering and potting. Your jam can be made in small batches and has the advantage of only containing fruit and sugar, unlike shop bought products which contain ingredients such as ascorbic acid, acidity regulator, citric acid, gelling agents and E331.

Jam is essentially preserved fruit that has a natural setting agent called pectin. This natural acid is released when the fruit is boiled with sugar. As the mixture boils, the sugar, acid and pectin combine, to allow the jam to form a mass when setting point is reached. Always use dry fruit that is slightly under-ripe as it contains a lot more pectin. Wet over-ripe fruit contains diluted pectin and less acid, but you can always add lemon juice to the mixture if needed or throw in a few under-ripe berries to help with setting. Commercially produced pectin is expensive and shouldn't be necessary.

Choose your preserving equipment carefully. A stainless steel pan is ideal as it does not react to the acid of the vinegar. Scales for measuring ingredients, muslin for wrapping spices, wooden spoons for stirring, thermometer, ladle, jam funnel, waxed discs, new or recycled jars for bottling and lids. The most important thing is to put the hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars and get a good seal. Never put hot mixture into cold jars, as the jar will shatter. Never put just warm mixture into jars as they could go mouldy. Some recipes recommend that the jam or jelly settle for up to 15 minutes before pouring into jars, to prevent the fruit or peel from rising to the top, when it sets. Don't put the label on until the jar has cooled as it will peel off. Remember, if the jam hasn't set after cooling, just pour it back into the pan, boil again, adding the juice of 1 lemon and repeat the process. Your jams and jellies can be eaten, once cooled and set.    Happy Preserving!