At this point in the year, every year, I could easily focus 100% of my time and energy on jamming, pickling, potting, bottling and conserving. I WANT IT ALL!
I want to lock in and seal tight the tastes that go by all too quickly. The fiery orange flame of a perfect French Apricot. The knobbly, bobbly texture of a pickling cucumber. The impossibly perfect blackcurrant with all its facets, pine, musk and pepper.
Here are just a few of the many books I return to year after year when the fruit and veg come thick and fast. I always find some new inspiration for a flavour combination or venture into trying a new style of preserving to make the most of what arrives at the bakery.
What are you keen to capture in a jar to save for later in the year? If you’re a jam-thusiast or have an unconditional commitment to making all the condiments, I would love to hear what you can’t be without, your favourites and must haves.
We are on a 7h road trip and set off very late as I couldn’t bear freezing all the currants and insisted on making jam before we left. I’m loving Sarah Johnson’s Fruitful. Have so far made apricot jam with noyau. Today, I made strawberry and redcurrant jam and blackcurrant juice from a whopping 1kg of blackcurrants that we harvested from our garden. Happy days!
An essential jam session is legitimate reason to delay plans. I made Straw-barb Jam this week, using redcurrants too to improve the set and up the acidity. :) I have yet to get a copy of Fruitful but heard lots of good things about it, will add to the ever growing list.
I love using Olia Hurcules for inspiration for fermentation. Her sauerkraut and brined beetroot are firm favourites at our house. Any of her books are gold!
I can never keep up with all of the cabbage I get in my weekly farm box, so I inevitably turn to pickling and fermentation — there's always at least one batch of sauerkraut, and usually some pickled cabbage that I like to add peppercorns and whole coriander to.
Speaking of cabbages, I have a recipe for Curtido bookmarked, I've never made it but like the idea of a something that might be a meeting point between sauerkraut and kimchi.
I'm currently on sick leave but if I was feeling better I would try my hand at some apricot jam - either with chamomile or tonka bean. A few years ago I did a fig, black pepper and red wine jam which was delicious - I would happily make that again.
And then pickles - pickled Persian cucumbers, Swedish style, but also pickled cherry tomatoes. The latter taste like little Ketchup-bombs, in a good way, and I can't wait to make them again.
I would also add Diana Henry's Salt Sugar Smoke to the stack of books above - not necessarily as an introductory book about preserving but because it is full of delicious recipes.
Love all these suggestions Sophia, as usual you speak my language when it comes to flavour pairing. Black pepper, fig and red wine sounds like something I need to try before the season ends, although I imagine it would be good made with dried figs too.
I made a really throw together tomato chutney last week, yielding only a jar, but infused with a cinnamon stick and allspice berries and it came off ketchup like in the best way. I have never tried pickling cherry tomatoes whole, I used confit them but I should give that a go.
And yes, great call on Salt Sugar and Smoke, that is a real treasure and opened my mind to all the condiments that I had never experienced and how possible it is to approach the idea of preserving more akin to and part of the act of cooking. Hope you feel better soon! x
That tomato chutney sounds delicious - and a great reminder to make chutney again myself. Chutneys aren't very common in Belgium, so I tend to forget about them from time to time, but really I adore them. Whether with Indian food or with a nice cheese and some crackers!
And yes, I think the fig jam could be made with dried figs as well - I think the wine will lend enough acidity. Come to think of it, you could even turn this into a fig chutney! That plus some goat's cheese and some good sourdough bread (which I know you have easy access to ;-)) would no doubt be delicious as well.
And fully agreed to Salt Sugar and Smoke. I love all of Diana Henry's work but this one (and How to Cook a Peach) in particular.
And thank you, I should hopefully be back on my feet in a few weeks and in the meantime I am enjoying the extra downtime to get on top of my reading list and plan future newsletters! Recipe testing will just have to wait a bit.
We are on a 7h road trip and set off very late as I couldn’t bear freezing all the currants and insisted on making jam before we left. I’m loving Sarah Johnson’s Fruitful. Have so far made apricot jam with noyau. Today, I made strawberry and redcurrant jam and blackcurrant juice from a whopping 1kg of blackcurrants that we harvested from our garden. Happy days!
An essential jam session is legitimate reason to delay plans. I made Straw-barb Jam this week, using redcurrants too to improve the set and up the acidity. :) I have yet to get a copy of Fruitful but heard lots of good things about it, will add to the ever growing list.
I love using Olia Hurcules for inspiration for fermentation. Her sauerkraut and brined beetroot are firm favourites at our house. Any of her books are gold!
Agreed! Every year I mean to try the fermented green tomatoes. I'll add it to the list.
I can never keep up with all of the cabbage I get in my weekly farm box, so I inevitably turn to pickling and fermentation — there's always at least one batch of sauerkraut, and usually some pickled cabbage that I like to add peppercorns and whole coriander to.
Speaking of cabbages, I have a recipe for Curtido bookmarked, I've never made it but like the idea of a something that might be a meeting point between sauerkraut and kimchi.
I'm currently on sick leave but if I was feeling better I would try my hand at some apricot jam - either with chamomile or tonka bean. A few years ago I did a fig, black pepper and red wine jam which was delicious - I would happily make that again.
And then pickles - pickled Persian cucumbers, Swedish style, but also pickled cherry tomatoes. The latter taste like little Ketchup-bombs, in a good way, and I can't wait to make them again.
I would also add Diana Henry's Salt Sugar Smoke to the stack of books above - not necessarily as an introductory book about preserving but because it is full of delicious recipes.
Love all these suggestions Sophia, as usual you speak my language when it comes to flavour pairing. Black pepper, fig and red wine sounds like something I need to try before the season ends, although I imagine it would be good made with dried figs too.
I made a really throw together tomato chutney last week, yielding only a jar, but infused with a cinnamon stick and allspice berries and it came off ketchup like in the best way. I have never tried pickling cherry tomatoes whole, I used confit them but I should give that a go.
And yes, great call on Salt Sugar and Smoke, that is a real treasure and opened my mind to all the condiments that I had never experienced and how possible it is to approach the idea of preserving more akin to and part of the act of cooking. Hope you feel better soon! x
That tomato chutney sounds delicious - and a great reminder to make chutney again myself. Chutneys aren't very common in Belgium, so I tend to forget about them from time to time, but really I adore them. Whether with Indian food or with a nice cheese and some crackers!
And yes, I think the fig jam could be made with dried figs as well - I think the wine will lend enough acidity. Come to think of it, you could even turn this into a fig chutney! That plus some goat's cheese and some good sourdough bread (which I know you have easy access to ;-)) would no doubt be delicious as well.
And fully agreed to Salt Sugar and Smoke. I love all of Diana Henry's work but this one (and How to Cook a Peach) in particular.
And thank you, I should hopefully be back on my feet in a few weeks and in the meantime I am enjoying the extra downtime to get on top of my reading list and plan future newsletters! Recipe testing will just have to wait a bit.
Hope all is well with you! xx