Preserving with 'Pam the Jam'

"they waste not, so we want not" Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

This is a first recipe book and I have come to a boxed set I bought at some bargain price ages ago - because I was interested in the River Cottage vibe. It was a bit of a mistake really because it is heavily British. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage come and go team are very much into foraging, and so most of what he forages is British - and not available here. I think I can say that really the only volume that I have used is the one I am going to talk about today, which is why I am not beginning with volume 1 - it just happened to be the next volume on my shelf.

What you find in British hedgerows, on British beaches and just generally in the countryside are mostly not found here - sloes, elderberries ... although of course we do have blackberries. And what do the councils do to blackberries - spray them - just as they are about to produce a bumper crop. I actually saw one house with a notice on their one blackberry bush on the footpath, pleading for them not to spray it. I'm all for spraying - it's a noxious weed. But why do it just as we are about to be blessed with natural blackberries which taste a whole lot better than those you buy in the shops - even if they are much smaller. Mine have all been taken by the birds!

But back to the book in question - volume 2 in the set - Preserves, which has been written by Pam Corbin, affectionately known in the UK as 'Pam the Jam'. The guru of preserving just about anything.

'They' in my opening quote above refers to those preserves. And what a huge variety of things that word embraces - jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, sauces, vinegars and various condiments. I think the only two main methods of preserving not covered in this book are salting/fermenting and smoking. Which in some ways is a bit odd, but never mind. I guess that smoking is not really a home kitchen thing, although fermenting is. It was written way back in 2008 so maybe fermenting was not such a big thing back then. Still it's a bit odd - where is sauerkraut for example? However there are plenty of other ideas to tempt you.

There are even three recipes for haws - those red berries in the picture of the rosella that I featured the other day. Hawthorn is a bit of a weed here in Australia - an intruder - but in Britain hawthorn is often called may - which is rather more romantic. She has recipes for Haw brandy, Hedgerow jelly and Saucy haw ketchup (found on the Great British Chefs website as Hawthorn berry ketchup)- which might be worth giving a go if I'm bored in autumn.

I suspect you need to be a bit bored with time on your hands to get into preserving. It often takes time because you may be dealing with large quantities of your particular fruit or vegetable glut. and also some of the processes take time - like waiting for jam to set. Some however - like pickling - or chutneys can be amazingly quick and easy. And I suspect that preserving is even more satisfying than cooking dinner for your loved ones. You are left with a whole heap of shiny jars or bottles that can be savoured over time, or given as gifts. They generate more pride I think than even a perfect meal that is quickly devoured. Those pots of jam last for ages.

"Over the centuries, wizards and alchemists have used all the power and magic they can muster to try and catch rainbows, spin straw into gold, and even bring the dead back to life. They've failed of course. Yet all the while, humble peasants and ordinary housewives have got on with the simple business of bottling sunshine, so that it may spread a little joy in the festive season."

Although this is a first recipe post, I'm not actually going to look at that because it's Seville marmalade which I'm pretty sure I have written about in different ways a few times. So today I'm just focussing on the book as a whole rather than the first recipe. Well I'm just going to present four recipes, some of the more unusual ones. There are several in the easily recognisable categories of jam, chutney and pickle online if you care to look. And it is interesting to see that almost everyone sees Pam Corbin as the one to go to.

Fruit leather found on the BBC website

A long time ago I made some of this - I think with a particularly large batch of wild plums from the garden. I'd made lots of jam and still had lots of plums, so, attracted by the photograph on the left I had a go. And it was a great success. I cut it into strips and rolled it up in greaseproof paper as shown in the BBC photograph and gave it to the grandchildren. Was it difficult? No it wasn't. Fundamentally you just cook your fruit down with sugar - or honey as in the recipe for Apple and blackberry fruit leather in the book - and some lemon juice, until it's soft and purée like. Push it through a sieve - I might have used a mouli, spread it out on lined baking trays and dry in the oven. It's really rather magical - especially if you hold the sheet up against the light from the window.

Souper mix - found on the Food 52 website, which she suggests as an alternative to bought stock cubes or a more time consuming vegetable stock..

In a way it's rather like a pesto or one of those leftovers sauces that I occasionally make with wilting vegetables. No cooking involved here you just blend up everything and top with oil. Her suggested mix is leek, fennel, carrot, celeriac and sun-dried tomatoes flavoured with garlic, parsley and coriander with a lot of salt to preserve it. I did see one comment that said it was therefore too salty. I think you could make it with much less salt, make smaller quantities, cover with oil and store in the fridge. Like an all-purpose green sauce or a pesto. It won't keep quite as long admittedly, but you'd get over the salt problem.

Plum and russet mincemeat from a website called Real Food Fans. Bearing in mind the increasingly disappearing Robinson's mincemeat from the shops at Christmas, this might be worth trying. In my freezer is a large bag of frozen plums. I don't know where they came from - possibly my daughter-in-law - but they are taking up a lot of space and need to be used. Far too many for a simple dessert and I have far too much jam as well, so maybe I'll have another go at fruit leather and this as well.

Mind you my younger son who is the mince pies addict in this family is very good at detecting if the mincemeat that is being used is Robinson's or not. But then again you can use mincemeat in other things as well - stuffed apples, tarts ... Nigel Slater seems to be fond of it and has a few recipes. Something to try next week perhaps.

Asparagus preserved in olive oil from Edible in Seattle . It's not actually Pam Corbin's recipe - or not referred to as such anyway. But it's a very close copy. I made these once too and they were extremely popular. I should have made some again this year but forgot all about them. And now it's too late. The local asparagus season is over really.

It's a modest little volume but packed with information and ideas. I use it a lot. There is no satisfaction like a few jars of jam, or a jar of pesto, sauce, pickle - even mustard - I've done that too - but Jamie is the guru on that - sitting on your kitchen bench, ready to be stored away for breakfast jam and croissant, or given away to family and friends.

"They epitomise the values at the heart of a well-run, contented kitchen. Firstly they embody and thrive on seasonal abundance. Secondly they are, or should be, intrinsically local, perfectly complementing the grow-your-own (or at least pick-your-own) philosophy. And thirdly, not to be sniffed at in these days of ecological anxiety, they are frugal thrifty and parsimonious." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

A kind of footnote. Who is Pam Corbin?

On her website - named @400 gooseberries

she tells us how it all began - with her husband - another Hugh:

"it was not until 1989 my real career began in jam. This was when Hugh and I blew all our security to the wind, headed to the West Country, bought a small jam factory (Thursday Cottage), and began to make jam commercially.  Well, commercial to us was 14 preserving pans (the sort you have at home), boiling day long from which we poured up to 3500 jars a day.  Not bad eh!"

They sold it in 2002 to Wilson and Sons, and it was then that her daughter suggested she should offer her services to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to run jam courses at River Cottage. And the rest is history really. This book was her first River Cottage publication. There was another one - Cakes - and she has also contributed to the massive volume - also in my possession - River Cottage A-Z. In addition she has been running various preserving and cooking courses for him although that may have stopped now, as I believe she is now retired. Well semi-retired because she is a major judge at various foodie competitions and:

"Patron of, and  judge at The World Marmalade Awards www.marmaladeawards.com and am Patron of The Guild of Jam Makers’ www.jamguild.co.uk.

And I almost forgot this bonus recipe from her - not in the book but found on The Guardian website Sauternes jelly Well you wouldn't make it with Chateau d'Yquem but there are cheaper Sauternes, or she suggests Muscat wine. A sweet wine that you like anyway. And it uses green grapes - so abundant at the moment - a cooking apple, a lemon and some brandy. Now that might be impressive.

Next up - Hedgerow by John Wright - another River Cottage friend.

YEARS GONE BY

February 27

2025 - Nothing

2024 - Nothing

2023 - German food - is it really that bad?

2022 - Cups

2021 - Missing

2020 - Goodbye old, hello new - the day my old website died - well was put to rest

2019 - What's the best way to make a cheat pizza?

2018 - 5000 years ago all milk was A2

2017 - Celery