When I did a jamming and preserving demo at the Greenmarket last Wednesday, I had a lot of people coming by and asking what the difference between a sour and a regular cherry was. We had some sour cherries out for the people passing by to see and taste if they wanted.
One neighborhood woman had never eaten a sour cherry and had question after question about the difference in flavors. I encouraged her to give the sour cherry a try. Unsuspectingly, she popped the glistening fruit into her mouth, puckered and writhed a bit, and then threw me a certain look: shock with a hint of ire. She could barely swallow it.
“Now,” I said, handing her a little dollop of my freshly made sour cherry jam perched atop a crusty piece of bread, “Try it like this.”
She took it from me, still eying me, betrayer. When she tasted the jam, her face changed from a pucker to relief and from relief to mild euphoria. Though this lady, poor thing, clearly did not seem to enjoy my little educational taste test, tasting, whenever you can, is so very important for your children and you to do. How else will you develop a palate? How else will you know that the taste of the rightfully-named sour cherry, when cooked or baked with a bit of sweetener, is exquisite and so much more complex than a sweet cherry?
So, huge apologies in the short hand, Neighbor Lady, but you are welcome in the long term, my friend. Happy Jamming!
Sour Cherry Jam
yields about 4-5 cups
*4 c. sour cherries, washed and pitted
*3/4-1 c. honey
*juice of half a lemon
*2t. pectin
*2 t. calcium water
Wash and drain your cherries with your mini-chef. Pull off all of the stems and begin to pit them. For this, a cherry pitter is nice, but if you do not have one, as we do not, you can use your hands. Be aware that this is a messy business but lots of fun, especially if you have many helpers. You can have a bowl for pits and stems and a bowl for the pitted cherries available for the pitting process.
Using your hands, smash the cherries and squish them a little bit. Pour in the honey and the lemon juice and stir everything together.
Big Person: Bring the cherry mixture to a boil and let bubble for about 5 minutes, stirring the whole time. Stir in the pectin and the calcium water, stirring vigorously, let cook a minute or two longer. Remove from the heat. Fill sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch room at the top. Screw on the lids and bands. Turn the jars over so that the hot jam coats the tops of the jars. Let sit a few minutes. When you turn the jars right side up again the tops will suck in, concave, for successful jarring magic to have happened.
31/07/2009 at 2:31 am Permalink
I couldn't agree with you more about the need to remain open to tasting; it is indeed essential for developing a taste for things.
31/07/2009 at 11:21 am Permalink
MMMhhh !!!! Is it a secret recipe ?
31/07/2009 at 1:55 pm Permalink
Sour cherry jam is my favorite! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
31/07/2009 at 10:22 pm Permalink
can you send me some,please
have a good weekend
01/08/2009 at 12:37 am Permalink
I've never heard of a sour cherry but you sure make it sound yummy!! Thanks for stopping by my blog
I love your header, so fun!
01/08/2009 at 3:30 am Permalink
These look so amazing!! Homemade jam is always delicious… I would love to try it! Thank you for the recipe.
Have a great weekend! ox
01/08/2009 at 11:41 pm Permalink
What a funny story! I'm having so much fun making jam this summer (mostly with rhubarb) and will have to be on the lookout for sour cherries.
03/08/2009 at 8:13 am Permalink
This looks so delicious! We just finished making fig jam from the figs pulled from the tree in our yard! Do you by any chance have any great fig recipes that do not include pork? We still have TONS of fresh figs to enjoy!
03/08/2009 at 10:07 pm Permalink
Keeping an open mind to trying and tasting new foods is essential, isn't it? I love this post and think I will try this jam this week…we're still buying Ontario cherries, because of the cooler weather. Thanks for another inspiring post.
04/08/2009 at 2:27 am Permalink
I love cherries- period. I have never made jam. For some reason I'm afraid. LOL…
05/08/2009 at 12:18 am Permalink
I may even try to make jam with this recipe!
And taste lots in the process
07/08/2009 at 2:55 pm Permalink
I love the pictures. There's something about homemade jam.. it reminds me of my childhood, and my Grandmommy's house. Great post.. I want to try it now!
09/08/2009 at 4:03 am Permalink
I have some of this right now in my pantry. My MIL loves to make it every summer. Yummy!