This strawberry jam recipe comes to us from Letitia Clark, author of the visually stunning cookbook "Bitter Honey" - "A Compilation of Stories and Recipes from the Island of Sardinia". Of course, any of us would easily dream of life on this Italian island, where relaxing is a way of life, and eating is an art form. The appeal is obvious. However, when I learned that Letitia was raised on an apple orchard in Devon, the move to Sardinia became a little more difficult for me to understand. After all, as I told Letitia in our conversation - "Devon is my Sardinia"! (Of course, there's so much more to the story and I'd invite you to listen to Letitia's episode "I Wanted to Encourage People" to hear her story of working as a chef in many London kitchen, then falling in love with home cooking in Sardinia. The words "Devon", "scones", "clotted cream" and "strawberry jam" will always be almost magical to me - until I visit Devon, I'll continue to wonder if it really exists or if it's only found in books. That's why I was delighted when Letitia shared this recipe that connects her to her grandmother, Devon, and now, to Sardinia as well. Before skipping to the recipe, I'd urge you to read Letitia's absolutely poetic words below - which will also answer why I'm titling this Strawberry (Lemon) Jam.
Strawberies to me will always taste of summers in England. That flavour, and that fragrance
are so reminiscent of every summer of my life it feels so strange to smell it in April, in
Sardinia.
In Sardinia strawberries taste of spring. The heat of the Italian climate means that the
strawberries ripen in mid-April. Sardinian summers taste instead of salt and fat and fish and
watermelon; the scorched skin of a grilled squid, the fat of a barbecued sausage, the salty
lick of an upper lip, the dusty white saline crust of skin after swimming. Summer in Sardinia
tastes of sun cream and iced coffee and gelato and the cool, clean, chemical flavour of
watermelon.
Whenever and wherever you make it, strawberry jam is indisputably the most precious of all
the jams. It has a floral delicacy and sweet intensity which are incomparable. This is the best
strawberry jam recipe I have ever made, it allows the berries to maintain their integrity, not
cooked so much so that they disintegrate or are muffled by the solid shout of sugar, instead
entire and flavourful and suspended in a shining fragrant syrup, almost like candied
strawberries. To counterbalance the sweetness of the strawberries, a lot of lemon is added
and the tiniest pinch of salt too. The butter is a trick from my cooking school days, which
helps to dissolve the scum on the top of the jam, and (I think) adds a subtle edge to the
flavour.
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Episodes Related to this Strawberry (Lemon) Jam
Episode 045: "I Wanted to Encourage People"
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Or listen to Lettita now:
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Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
1.2 kg 1.2 best strawberries
800 g 800 sugar (caster or granulated)
2 2 lemons
Small pinch salt
Tiny nut of butter (literally hazelnut size)
Directions
- The night before you want to make your jam wash, hull and halve your strawberries;and place them in a large bowl. Pour over the sugar, cut the lemons into quarters (removing any pips) and squeeze them over the fruit and then drop them in the bowl too.
- Stir the whole lot a few times and then cover and leave to macerate.
- The next day, put your jars through the dishwasher on the hottest setting, or wash them in hot soapy water if you don’t have a dishwasher. Sterilize them (according top.)
- Place two small saucers in the fridge.
- Remove the lemons from the bowl of strawberries and discard them. Pour the fruit;and the syrup into your jam pan (or large saucepan) and bring to the boil.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Take a little of the jam and dribble it onto one of the cold saucers. Wait a few seconds and then push it with your finger. If wrinkles appear on the surface of the jam then your jam is ready to pot. If not, cook for a few minutes longer.
- Add the nut of butter and the pinch of salt and stir gently to dissolve the scum.
- Ladle into your prepared jars and seal.
Notes
- Make sure to listen to Letitia on The Storied Recipe Podcast, “I Wanted to Encourage People” Letitia Clark, Author of “Bitter Honey” while you make her Strawberry Jam recipe!
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