Fig jam

Finally. I have enough figs to make jam. As I'd already said, although the tree bears tons of fruits, most of them are not accessible & whatever few we can get our hands on, goes straight into The Girl's tummy. Seriously I sometimes wonder where all that food goes to cos it's certainly not making her any bigger.

Every summer I'll usually make strawberry jam but this year I didn't because we still have left over bottles from last year & I want to finish those first. So I thought I was going to be jam-free this year till now.

Needless to say I've never made jams until I came to France. But over here, jamming is a big part of summer. I started about 3 years ago under the guidance of X's mother. Before I post how we do it, I would like to preface it by saying that this is how she & most everybody around here has been doing it for years. It's best that you read up about sterilisation & jamming to determine which method you're most comfortable with.

Another thing about making jam is the amount of sugar. Most recipes will have 1:1 amount of sugar to fruit so if you are making 1 kg of strawberries, you'll need to add 1 kg of sugar. That may seem like a lot but the sugar is necessary to preserve the jam. To counter the sweetness, you can always add a little bit of acidity in the form of lemon juice. I decreased the amount of sugar I used for the fig jam cos it's only 2 bottles & I doubt it's going to last us for very long anyway.

How to make Fig Jam

1. Remove the stem & roughly cut up the figs.

2. Add in sugar & let sit for 1/2 day.

3. Pour sugar & fruit into a pot & bring it to a boil - making sure to stir often so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. I used a special type of sugar so I only cook it for 5-7 minutes but you can also use regular sugar & it would take about 20 mins.

4. If foam appears, you can skim it off but it's harmless so sometimes I just leave it.

5. Now this is very important. While the mixture is still VERY hot, pour them into the jars. Screw them tight & turn them over. Quickly pour the rest. If you're doing more than 5 jars, the mixture would have cooled considerably after 5 so make sure you re-heat it to boiling point before you continue pouring.

6. Once they are cooled, you can turn them over. Store them in a cool place.