by Chef Alice Waters
Chef Alice Waters says this method of jam-making requires a little patience, but it's among the best ways to capture and preserve the flavor of fresh strawberries and the floral quality of wild ones.
Ingredients
- 5 cups strawberries
- 2 cups sugar
- a few drops lemon juice (optional)
Directions
- Rinse, dry and hull the strawberries. Slice them in half and then into thin slices.
- Toss the slices with the sugar in a medium-size non-reactive pot and let them sit for 15 minutes while their juices are released and the sugar dissolves.
- Cook the berries over high heat for 1 minute, skimming off any white foam as it rises. Immediately pour the hot jam into a flat-bottomed dish (or dishes) with a surface area large enough that the jam will spread to a thickness of no more than 1/2-inch in any one spot. Let the jam steam and cool uncovered. If the jam is thinner than you like at this point, let it sit out in a sunny spot to thicken. This can take a few days. Make sure the spot you choose is inaccessible to ants. If you want to put the jam outside, cover it with plastic wrap with a few holes punched in it to allow continued evaporation.
- When the jam has reached the desired texture, taste it and adjust the sweetness with lemon juice, if necessary.
- Transfer the jam to clean glass jars, seal tightly, and keep refrigerated for up to a month.
Tips/Techniques
This segment appears in show #2713.
Recipe reprinted from Chez Panisse Fruit, Harper Collins 2002
© 2002 Alice Waters
Used with permission
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