I love sitting in the kitchen, coffee in hand, listening to jam bubbling on the stove. Another day it may be the pickling liquor lined up for bottling figs or apricots with the sting of vinegar and spices in the air.
None of this means I’m the sort of person with a larder full of neatly labelled preserving jars, destined to last for months, if not years. I make preserves in small amounts, sometimes only a jar or two at a time. They don’t last long. They are not meant to. I want to get the same chutney or jam out of the cupboard day after day. I steep something in vinegar or mix it with sugar not purely to preserve it but to make something instantly delicious. Something for now, rather than later.
Preserving, at least for me, is not just the idea of using up a glut or keeping something seasonal in fine condition for longer. It is more about a change of character. Plums become silky and translucent when they are boiled with lemon, sugar and rosewater. Peaches (or figs, or pears) develop that teasing double edge of sour and sweet when stored in cider vinegar.
Wherever possible I keep my fruit jams and jellies soft in texture, more like a purée than a bouncing jelly. I prefer to make luscious, soft-set conserves rather than something purely for spreading on toast. Which is why they come out for sponge cakes and ice cream, to serve with cold roast meats and vegetables rather than just making an appearance of the breakfast table. Cold roast pork and plum conserve? Yes please.
I prefer my pickles simple rather a jumble of flavours. A few aromatics help, but they should never intrude. Peppercorns, coriander seeds, juniper berries, bay leaves, star anise and cinnamon are enough for me. I like to let the fruit and the vinegar work their magic together, almost unheeded.
Pickled fruits go far beyond the role of accompaniment. They can be part and parcel of a recipe, too. I like to slice them and toss with grain salads (pickled peaches, bulgur, parsley and halloumi perhaps) or add them to a dish of hot roast game (I very much recommend roast partridge and pigeon alongside a little pickled peach).
They also have much to contribute to a salad of grilled aubergine, parsley and labne, or tossed with grilled courgettes, spring onion and pumpkin seeds. And I can’t tell you how many of the pickled peaches we get through with an after-work bottle of icy beer.
Pickled peaches
Leave the fruit in the boiling water until it is quite soft and tender enough to eat. No amount of time spent in the vinegar is going to soften hard fruit. You could use apricots instead of peaches, but I wouldn’t bother to skin them. Sterilising your preserving jars is essential. Wash them with hot soapy water and turn upside down to drain. Place them, correct way up on an oven tray then leave in preheated oven (180C/gas mark 4), for 10 minutes. The lids may distort in the oven, so let them sit in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain on a clean tea towel before filling the jars with the hot preserve and sealing them.
Makes 2 x 900ml preserving jars
peaches 8, slightly under-ripe
lemon ½
cider vinegar 750ml
granulated sugar 450g
juniper berries 8
black peppercorns 12
coriander seeds 1 tsp
bay leaves 4
Put a large pan of water on to boil. Cut the peaches in half, remove the stones then lower the fruit into the water. Add the lemon to the water and leave the peaches for 3 or 4 minutes. The peaches are ready when they can be pierced effortlessly with a skewer and the skins can be removed easily.
Put the cider vinegar in a non-reactive saucepan over a moderate heat, add the sugar, juniper berries, lightly crushed, the peppercorns, coriander seeds and bay leaves. bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.
Lift the peaches out of the water with a draining spoon. Peel the skins from the fruit and discard them. Cut each peach half in two then put them into the sterilised jars. Pour the pickling syrup and aromatics over, seal and leave to cool. The peaches can be stored for several weeks, and are ready within three days.
Plum preserve with almonds and rosewater
Makes 2 x 400g jars
plums 1 kg
water 175ml
lemon 1
granulated sugar 750g
almonds 2 tbsp
rosewater 3 tbsp
dried rose petals 1 tbsp (optional)
Check the plums, removing any stalks and leaves, and replacing any that are bruised. Put the plums in a deep stainless steel saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Halve and squeeze the lemon, then add the juice and the empty lemon shells (and the rose petals if you are using them) to the plums.
Stir in the granulated sugar, then bring it slowly to the boil. Let the jam fruit and sugar boil rapidly, with a regular stir, for 10-15 minutes or until it has reached 105C on a sugar thermometer. Stir in the almonds and the rosewater and remove from the heat.
Discard the lemon shells – they have done their work. Ladle the preserve into the sterilised jars and seal. It should be kept refrigerated.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
