Thursday 6 September 2012

Fig Jam


I went into Bodrum this week and was sad to see that all the fig trees around the bus station were shedding their fruit onto the pavements and it was being squashed underfoot. Bodrumites are obviously too busy rushing about to have time to collect this bounty.  Luckily I'm a 50% villager so I've been busy making fig jam.  I don't have any fig trees (a deficiency we will address this winter) so had to buy from the Sunday market, but at this time of year figs are on sale just about everywhere, especially by the side of major roads where you get to buy them in twee little baskets.  The only commercially available fig jams in Turkey are more like figs in syrup;  the recipe calls for a litre of water to be added to the figs and sugar. I like a thick consistency that can stand up for itself so I adapted my strawberry jam recipe and hoped for the best.

3 kg ripe fresh figs
2.25kg sugar
juice of 3 lemons
2 packets of "reçel yap" or 2 tsp powdered or liquid pectin


Snip off the hard stalk end of each fig and slice into 4.  I got very sticky doing this with a knife and found a pair of kitchen scissors made the job much easier.  Add the sugar, pectin and lemon juice to the figs in a large preserving pan, cover with a tea towel and leave for 4 hours.  When you go back to the pan you'll be surprised at the amount of juice that has been extracted from the fruit. Put the pan on a low heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. I then used a stick blender to break up the fruit in the pan but this is optional.  Bring the pan up to a rolling boil and don't leave the stove. If you turn your back the bottom will stick and you'll have burnt jam, so keep stirring occasionally to stop it catching.  A thermometer is the most useful bit of kit to have if you're a jam maker as the mixture has to come up to 112C or  220 F degrees to set.  As an indicator, mine boiled for 15 minutes.  Once this temperature has been reached keep the rolling boil until a drop of jam on a cold plate starts to wrinkle.  Turn off the heat and start sterilizing your jars.  I put clean jars in the oven at 100 C for 20 minutes.  Allow them to cool slightly then pour the hot jam into the hot jars and seal. 

We've already got through two jars as this is a fantastic accompaniment to hard ewes cheese for breakfast and a spoonful added to  banana, nectarine and milk makes a great afternoon milkshake. 

18 comments:

  1. Hello:
    Fig jam sounds positively delicious and for breakfast, as you describe here, a dream. Indeed, this very day crossing Moscow Square, in a rather poor corner of Budapest, we spotter street vendors with baskets of figs. Perhaps we should return to buy some!!

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    Replies
    1. If you haven't got a large pan it's easy to make just a couple of jars with 1 kg of figs.

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  2. I was just thinking about picking you some of ours to bring tomorrow. The ones I can reach without touching the leaves of course. Can you use some more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the figs in the house are now jam so fresh ones will be very welcome.

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  3. Thanks for the recipe. We've never been able to find a native recel that we like because they're always too syrupy and sweet so we just never have it. But we love figs so we'll try this. We'll be sure not to turn our backs.

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    Replies
    1. This recipe is also good for strawberries, peaches and apricots. It stays on your bread, unlike Turkish jam which runs down your sleeve.

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  4. This sounds delicious. The untapped bounty reminds me of summer in Cairns when mangoes rot underfoot on street sides and in parks. I filled my bike basket on the way home once and made dozens of jars of chutney. Thanks for the reminder!

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  5. I am so cross that I have had to return to England ( daughter's wedding....no option really) just as the figs were ripe. I had a few for breakfast last week, but this week, they will all be ripe and ready to fall off the trees....agghhhhh. I've left instructions that friends can go pick and eat them......but cant really ask them to preserve them for me either by bottling or making jam. Next year I will be more organised, and will not leave France until after fig harvest. J.

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    Replies
    1. They could try putting a couple of kilos in the freezer and you could try making jam when you get back.

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  6. Annie - I am a passionate fig jam maker and have a wonderful recipe on my blog - if you want a nice variation do check it out, I can highly recommend it.

    http://chocolateannie.blogspot.com.es/2010/11/fig-and-orange-jam-mmmmm.html

    and this year -
    http://chocolateannie.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/making-jam-in-30s.html

    As you say, with a nice strong cheese...irresistible!!
    Axxx

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    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. One day I'll accidentally delete my whole blog - what I was trying to say was : Annie, this looks like a great recipe. I'll give it a go next Sunday after the market.

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  7. I remember runny Turkish jam when on holiday there...and senna pod tea that laid low a whole touring party.

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  8. . . that looks good enough to try - and eat!

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