b u y i ta l i a !
italian jam
Carluccio’s confettura di fichi (fig jam) From Carluccio’s www.carluccios.com Price £4.25/340g
There’s nothing like a fruity conserve for brightening breakfast time – and the Italians certainly make ‘em good! We take a taste of the sweet life with seven fine jams
Fig is a popular flavour of jam in Italy, and this offering from Carluccio’s is a classic example. Made up only of fig, cane sugar and lemon juice, the fruity taste of the figs shines through beautifully. This conserve has a great consistency, with a smoothish texture, which is enlivened with fig seeds and some larger chunks of fruit. This makes a delicious alternative to spreading on toast in place of your usual breakfast jam, but it would equally make a great base for a tart, a glaze for pork or as a sweet complement to hard cheeses or cured meat.
I
talian fruit jams never fail to satisfy a sweet tooth. Generally made purely and simply from fruit and sugar – and without the water content that bulks out many mass-produced jams – artisan jams from Italy are known for their rich and intense fruit flavours. This mouth-watering sweet, versatile food is worth keeping in stock at all times, and not just for spreading on your toast at breakfast time – Italian jams and conserves have many more uses, from livening up panini or making sweet tarts to spreading on chicken breasts for a unique sweet and savoury flavour combination. Figs, berries and plum flavours are all firm favourites with the Italians, but there are a host of other exciting jam flavour combinations out there, a few of which we have sampled in the course of this feature, notably pumpkin and vanilla or apricot and peperoncino, along with a few of the more standard flavours. We’ve scoured the best Italian online delis for a selection of jams to taste test. Our findings? Well, in a nutshell, we discovered that there’s a whole world of jammy variety out there – which means there really is something for everyone.
JUNE 2011
LIA! E
Price £5.65/120g
TOR’ DI
IT ICE A
From Just so Italian www.justsoitalian.co.uk
A classic flavour, and a good rendition of it from Carluccio’s. Very sweet and very fruity – just as a good jam should be.
First things first: it’s wielding a pretty hefty price tag for a fairly tiny jar of jam. So is it worth it? Well, in a word – yes! This chic little jar holds within it a real taste sensation, and although all of the contenders in this month’s Italia! taste test fared pretty well with the judges, this one stood out as a hands-down winner – there wasn’t a bad word anyone on the panel could say about this jammy little gem from Piedmont. An innovative blend of pear and pine nut (the inclusion of a few whole pine nuts adds a great extra dimension to the texture), this jam boasted a wonderfully smooth texture as well as a juicy, interesting and very more-ish taste. Not just a great addition to bread, but also a perfect accompaniment to cheese and salumi.
VERDICT HHHHH An outstanding jam with an interesting combination of ingredients, a smooth consistency and perfect flavour.
72 italia! June 2011
S CHO
confettura di pera e pinoli (pear and pine nut jam)
VERDICT HHHH
confettura extra di lamponi e fichi (Fig and Raspberry Extra Jam) From Taberneria www.taberneria.com Price £6.20/350g
The rustic-style presentation of this jam is a great additional touch – the crepe lid tied with a ribbon looks really appealing and conveys an almost artisan style. The jam inside the jar is perfectly nice too. The blend of raspberry and fig is a good combination – although raspberry is decidedly the more dominant flavour here. While this is a nice enough jam, it doesn’t offer the depth and interest of flavour that some of the other contenders delivered.
VERDICT HHH An interesting combination of fig and raspberry, and perfectly pleasant, but not one of the highlights of this taste test.
confettura extra di zucca vanigliata (Pumpkin and Vanilla Extra Jam) From Taberneria www.taberneria.com Price £4.85/230g
A very solid consistency is the first impression you’ll get from this vivid conserve from Taberneria. It’s a very interesting mixture of flavours too – a combination that is both mild and sweet. The pumpkin content is a delicate complement to the overtones of vanilla, and the combination was thought by most of the judges to work pretty well. A good jam to eat in small amounts, with an almost honeyed sweetness to its aftertaste. Great with bread or toast, but it would also make an interesting accompaniment to crêpes.
O&F composta di albicocche con peperoncino (apricot and chilli compote) From
Olio e Farina www.olioefarina.com Price £4.99/230g
This was perhaps the most exciting of the seven jams tasted by Italia!’s judges. It’s a compelling new take on traditional apricot jam – the apricots are certainly there in abundance (there is a really good fruit content), but they are paired with fiery peperoncino to give a good kick to proceedings. The chilli also has the effect of tempering the sweetness of the jam slightly, and the overall effect of this apricot-chilli combo is a juicy and tonguetingling delight. This intriguing jam would also match well with a good range of foods.
VERDICT HHH
VERDICT HHHH
An interesting mixture of flavours, which offers up a pleasing taste and texture. A little on the mild side, but very sweet.
Not for the faint hearted – this jam certainly has a kick, but the blend of ingredients works wonderfully well here.
seggiano crema di castagne (chestnut conserve)
seggiano sugar-free fig jam
From Contact Seggiano for stockists www.seggiano.co.uk
From Contact Seggiano for stockists www.seggiano.co.uk Price £5.65/400g
Fresh Monte Amiata chestnuts are boiled, peeled and then blended with dark rum and sugar to make this rich and punchy preserve, created for Seggiano by the Angeli family in Tuscany. Its consistency is thick and satisfying and its taste is gloriously indulgent – almost chocolatey in its richness. The nutty flavour is subtle, but is certainly discernible, and the judges were bowled over by the great depth of flavour. Delicious as a spread, or to try with cold meats or cheeses. This would also make a great addition to a range of desserts.
The only sugar-free option selected for this feature, Seggiano’s sugar-free fig jam is a really interesting product. If you look at it alongside, say, the Carluccio’s fig jam contender, this is very different, and doesn’t conform to our idea of a traditional jam. It is, nevertheless, a really tasty choice. Its sweetness comes directly from the figs themselves, which come from Cosenza in Calabria. And it tastes so authentic that it’s almost like eating fresh figs, including a slightly astringent aftertaste that lingers and begs you to try a little more. A twist of bitter lemon zest adds an additional note of freshness, which works really well. Seggiano suggests trying this jam with soft cheeses, yogurts or on buttered toast.
Price £5.75/220g
VERDICT HHHH
VERDICT HHH
A versatile, unusual conserve that works well in a number of ways. Rich, flavoursome and satisfying: a definite thumbs up!
It’s fantastically figgy and would make a good complement to various other foods, but it’s not a traditional-style jam.
June 2011 italia! 73