Jam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jam (also known as jelly or preserves) is a type of sweet spread or condiment made with fruits or sometimes vegetables, sugar, and sometimes pectin if the fruit's natural pectin content is insufficient to produce a thick product. Jam and its variations are often spread on bread, and used as a culinary sweetener, for example in yoghurt.
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[edit] Jams, jellies and fruit butters
The terms jam and jelly are used in different parts of the world in different ways.
Properly, the term jam refers to a product made with whole fruit, cut into pieces or crushed. The fruit is heated with water and sugar to activate the pectin in the fruit. The mixture is then put into containers. The following extract from a US cookbook describes the process.
- "Jams are usually made from pulp and juice of one fruit, rather than a combinations of several fruits. Berries and other small fruits are most frequently used, though larger fruits such as apricots, peaches, or plums cut into small pieces or crushed are also used for jams. Good jam has a soft even consistency without distinct pieces of fruit, a bright color, a good fruit flavor and a semijellied texture that is easy to spread but has no free liquid." - Berolzheimer R(ed) et al (1959) [1]
Jelly is made by a similar process, with the additional step of filtering out the fruit pulp after the initial heating. A cloth "jelly bag" is traditionally used as a filter.
- "Good jelly is clear and sparkling and has a fresh flavor of the fruit from which it is made. It is tender enough to quiver when moved, but holds angles when cut.
- EXTRACTING JUICE - Pectin is best extracted from the fruit by heat, therefore cook the fruit until soft before straining to obtain the juice ... Pour cooked fruit into a jelly bag which has been wrung out of cold water. Hang up and let drain. When dripping has ceased the gab may be squeezed to remove remaining juice, but this may cause cloudy jelly." - Berolzheimer R(ed) et al (1959) [2]
A third term, fruit butter, is used in this context to refer to a process where the whole fruit is forced through a sieve or blended after the heating process.
- "Fruit butters are generally made from larger fruits, such as apples, plums peaches or grapes. Cook until softened and run through a sieve to give a smooth consistency. After sieving, cook the pulp...add sugar and cook as rapidly as possible with constant stirring... The finished product should mound up when dropped from a spoon, but should not cut like jelly. Neither should there be any free liquid." - Berolzheimer R(ed) et al (1959) [3]
Although these terms exist in North America, the UK and Australia, popularly most jams are generically referred to as "jelly" in North America, as whole fruit jams and fruit butters are less popular commercially than jelly there. In the UK and Australia both terms are used in their "correct" sense, although the term jam is more popularly used in Australia as a generic term[4]. To further confuse the issue, the term jelly is also used in the UK and Australia to refer to a gelatin dessert, but in North America the commercial product Jell-o is used as a generic name for the same.
This article will use the generic term jam unless otherwise noted.
[edit] History of jam making
The Greek technique of preserving quinces by boiling them in honey was included in the Roman cookery book De re coquinaria. The use of cane sugar to preserve fruit can be traced back to the 16th century when the Spanish came to the West Indies.
[edit] Production
In general jam is produced by taking mashed or chopped fruit or vegetable pulp and boiling it with sugar and water. The proportion of sugar and fruit varies according to the type of fruit and its ripeness, but a rough starting point is equal weights of each. When the mixture reaches a temperature of 104 °C (219 °F), the acid and the pectin in the fruit react with the sugar, and the jam will set on cooling. However, most cooks work by trial and error, bringing the mixture to a "fast rolling boil", watching to see if the seething mass changes texture, and dropping tiny samples on a plate to see if they run or set.
How easily a jam sets depends on the pectin content of the fruit. Some fruits, such as gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, citrus fruits, apples and raspberries, set very well; others, such as strawberries and ripe blackberries, often need to have pectin added. There are commercial pectin products on the market, and most industrially-produced jams use them. Home jam-makers sometimes rely on adding a pectin-rich fruit to a poor setter; for example blackberry and apple. Other tricks include extracting juice from redcurrants or gooseberries.
Making jam at home used to be common, but the practice is declining.
[edit] Variations
Uncooked or minimally cooked (less than 5 minutes) jams, called freezer jam, because they are stored frozen, are popular in parts of North America for their very fresh taste.
[edit] European Union directives on 'jam'
In the European Union, the jam directive (Council Directive 79/693/EEC, 24 July 1979) set minimum standards for the amount of "fruit" in jam, but the definition of fruit was expanded to take account of several unusual kinds of jam made in the EU. For this purpose, "fruit" is considered to include fruits that are not usually treated as fruits, such as tomatoes; fruits that are not normally made into jams; and vegetables that are sometimes made into jams, such as: rhubarb (the edible part of the stalks), carrots, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and pumpkins. This definition continues to apply in the new directive, Council Directive 2001/113/EC (20 December 2001). [5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Berolzheimer R(ed) et al, 1959, Culinary arts institute encyclopedic cookbook (revised), Culinary arts institute, Chicago USA. pp831-832
- ^ Berolzheimer R(ed) et al, 1959, Culinary arts institute encyclopedic cookbook (revised), Culinary arts institute, Chicago USA. pp826-829
- ^ Berolzheimer R(ed) et al, 1959, Culinary arts institute encyclopedic cookbook (revised), Culinary arts institute, Chicago USA. pg830
- ^ Howard L & Patten M (eds), 1960, The Australian Women's Weekly - Cookery in colour, Paul Hamlin LTD, London UK, sections956-971
- ^ Council Directive 2001/113/EC (20 December 2001)
