Tangled Branches: Satiated

riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hibiscus Jam 1.0

They call it Rosella in Australia. That's what I learned when I started searching online for Hibiscus Jam recipes. And just like any other given thing, there are many ideas about how it should be done. I focused on the recipes that measured the fruit and sugar by weight, hoping for greater accuracy. To add or not to add lemon juice? I couldn't understand why - the fruit is quite tart - so I didn't. How much sugar then? Of the two recipes that made it to the championship round, one had twice the amount of sugar as the other. I compromised and weighed out an amount equal to 1.5 times the weight of the fruit. I'm calling it fruit here because I'm tired of typing calyces, even though that's technically what they are.

Having decided on a recipe, I had to gather up some equipment. Where is my 5-quart pan? Not here. OK, I'll just make a smaller quantity. Oh, and I'll need some canning jars and a canning kettle. Two hours and four stores later I had the jars but not the kettle. Well, maybe the stockpot would work. I have a cake rack that will fit in the bottom - oops, no, it's a fraction of an inch too big. How about the old collapsible steamer basket? But the bottom isn't flat. But it's all I have. OK fine. This is an experiment anyway. No jar lifter. What about tongs? Yeah, but where are they? Never mind, I'll use a couple of big slotted spoons.

I measured out 200 grams of hibiscus fruit (calyces with the seed pod removed), chopped them somewhat finely, and set them in a 3-quart pan to simmer with somewhere between 3/4 and 1 cup of water (not quite enough to cover the fruit). I let that simmer for 20 minutes and added 300 grams of white sugar. Simmered for another 20 minutes, uncovered, and packed into 4 4-ounce jars (hot from the dishwasher). Put the lids on and processed for 10 minutes in my improvised water bath canner.


I was so concerned that it might not gel. I needn't have worried. The end product is very firm. How to correct this next time? More water? Less cooking time? But never mind that. This stuff tastes really good! It's not it's like some inferior version of a "real" fruit jam, made out of necessity from available ingredients. Some have compared it to cranberry, and yes, it's something like that. There's no astringency though. To me it has a haunting, faintly floral, unidentifiable "red" flavor. I am definitely going to make this again.

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posted by Entangled at 8:06 AM 0 comments