apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I followed the link above to the June Taylor website, and I am intrigued by this bit of information about their conserves: "The traditional method used in producing these conserves results in a soft set texture. Enhanced fresh fruit flavor is favored over a firmer set. These conserves have a very low sugar content and no commercial pectin."

So, not to get too off topic, but what exactly is a conserve? How is it different from a jam or preserve, and how do I make one (with enhanced flavor, little sugar, and no pectin) to take advantage of the first of the summer berries?

my parents were condomaniacs (they wrote a cookbook all about mustard -- The Mustard Cookbook -- to justify their obsession). as a result, i've rebelled and try to keep the condiments down to one shelf in the door of the fridge. I guess you can't keep down genetics though; I find myself wandering the condiments aisle in foreign countries for items to stuff into my luggage and my brother and i swap tales and tastes of new condiment finds. cilantro paste is a favorite as is hot ajavar and rose and violet petal jams. oh and maggi for sprinkling on salads.

From what I've been able to gather, a conserve is very similar to preserves or jam or a fruit relish or chutney (it's like cobblers/crisps/betty's etc that are all very similar but there are about a hundred different names for them). The fruit is cut coarsely and it's cooked fairly lightly so it remains chunky. I think it's a bit looser than jam or preserves, and is not always meant to be spread on toast. I've seen conserve recipes that were meant to spoon on ice cream, and others that were meant to serve with roast pork or chicken (which seems very similar to the idea of cranberry relish for Thanksgiving turkey).

In my limited jam- and jelly-making experience, you can often get away with not using pectin if you use a good amount of sugar. When you use less sugar, you need a little pectin to help hold it together, unless you're using fruit that naturally contains a lot of pectin. The length of cooking also influences how runny or stiff it is. I would think a conserve that is lightly cooked to preserve the flavour of the fruit made with little sugar could get a little watery, depending on what kind of fruit is used.

Hey Abby. Good to see you back here!

what's ajavar?

Violet mustard sounds amazing. I read the piece as well and immediately wanted to try it. Like the peppadew mentioned in the piece, it seems unique and a little bit intoxicating.

Because of my line of work, my fridge is overflowing with condiments. Some I buy, some are sent as samples, some just seem to appear and I end up wondering where they came from. I often think they are reproducing in the far recesses of my fridge.

Speaking of mustards, I’m really obsessed with them. Maybe I need to do a show on them…..

oooh, rose and violet jams.... drool.

I accidentally acquired five different kinds of soy sauce, but my forever favorite is a Thai brand with a fat little boy on the yellow label. There's no English on the whole thing, so I just buy it by sight.

I'm also contemplating making my own barbecue sauce, but that's mostly just so I can add bourbon to whatever I'm eating without making it soupy.

hi condimaniac ann here!
Ajvar is a wonderful vegetable spread/dip/sauce popular in the balkans made mostly of peppers and eggplant. in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia where I first experienced it, it's eaten with little mixed meat caseless sausages called cevapcici. It's the greatest street food I've ever encountered!
I lugged a jar home, but you can find it all over the city at any Eastern European grocery. I saw it recently at Eagle Provisions on 5th ave in the South Slope, a condimaniac's paradise if ever there was one! The most popular brand imported here is Marco Polo, a Croat himself!

I'm a total condimaniac. My fridge door is completely full and there are condiments all over my regular shelves as well. My parents are just as bad with several different kinds of mayos, mustards, bbq sauces, salad dressings, etc...

I just threw out a half eaten jar of avjar as a matter of fact when I did a small fridge cleaning yesterday. :) ZerGut is an Eastern European brand that I frequently find in grocery stores with reasonably-sized international sections (in Texas, you can find it at Fiesta and Central Market).

I have several (well, actually quite a few) different kinds of mustard, oil and vinegar so each salad gets a different dressing .. I decide what to use depending on what I'm mixing together for the salad .. there is an orchard store in Thurmont, Maryland that has a locally-made Vidalia Onion mustard which is wonderful -- mixed with apple cider vinegar, for instance -- sweet, fruity and a bit of sharp edge to cut the sweetness. Trader Joe's has a Key Lime mustard, which sounds odd but works really well if you're making a salad with shrimp and black beans .. and so on.

If you'd like to make jams (conserves, preserves, whatevah) with just sugar, fruit and lemon juice, I can't recommend Christine Ferber's book highly enough, it's great!

Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber
by Christine Ferber and Virginia R. Phillips (Translator)

I make a raspberry and rose petal jam inspired by her technique that has non-jam fans swooning.

regards,
trillium

Mortar and Pestle
birds bees flowers and trees
the tongue has a conscious disease.