A Guide to Making Wild Jams and Syrups
I’m a bit of a weirdo when it comes to jams. I’d never heard of using pectin to gelatinize them until I came to the U.S. When I was growing up in Belgium, my mom made a lot of strawberry and rhubarb jams from our garden, and the usual method was to cook the sugar and fruit past boiling point until the mixture reached a “set point” of 220°F (104°C).
I have made many jams over the years using both methods (adding pectin or high temperature), but The more I started using wild ingredients, the less interested I became in either method. I find that cooking at 220°F is too high and not optimal for flavor.
Using Wild Ingredients: Let the Plants Speak to You
I have a different philosophy and I always tell it to my students: Let the plants speak to you. If you want to create a truly original and native cuisine, your ideas and recipes should draw from the ingredients themselves and their surroundings.
I currently operate the same philosophy with my “jams” – they often resemble syrups and I like to let the ingredients do their thing.
Making Jams and Syrups: Pascal Baudar’s Method
My method is simply to make a fairly stout syrup (3 parts sugar to 4 parts ingredients) from forest fruits such as blackberries, currants, gooseberries and elderberries. Some fruits, such as elderberries, are cooked whole, while others, such as our local currants, are juiced first, due to the gigantic amount of seeds they contain.
I don’t boil the syrup—I simply heat it to 200°F (93°C) for 12 minutes, then pour the contents into pint (250ml) jars and process them in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. For pint (500ml) jars, I process them for 20 minutes.
Ingredients for making jams and syrups
My elderberry jam never hardens properly; It’s a stout syrup with lots of fruit, which I absolutely love. It goes well with game birds such as quail and pigeons. Other ingredients, such as our local passion fruit, will set properly like a regular stout jam if I operate the whole fruitincluding the skin.
I also like to add engaging, wild flavors to some of the jams and syrups I make. Very often they come from the same place. Mugwort or black sage leaf in elderberry syrup adds a lot of subtle flavor. The same is true of a pinch of silver fir needles, which are used to make manzanita syrup.
Chia Seed Jam
You can make a stout jam without overcooking it or adding pectin by using chia seeds and (probably) ribwort plantain seeds – although I haven’t tried the latter yet. Both seeds have gelatinous properties.
The technique is uncomplicated. Heat the berries and sugar in a saucepan as explained above. If necessary, depending on what fruit you have in your area and what you are using, you may need to mash the fruit slightly with a fork.
At the end of cooking, add chia seeds (picked or purchased) to the warm syrup. Start with 2 tablespoons (20 g) per cup (236 ml) of liquid; cook for a few more minutes, stirring the seeds. Remove from heat and set the jam aside for 5 minutes, then check its consistency. Add more chia seeds if necessary, but 2 tablespoons (20 g) is usually enough. Place in a jar and close the lid. This jam should be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
There are many recipes for this type of jam available online, some of which operate fresh fruit or juice and honey instead of sugar.