Preserving food
Though we are still getting 32ºC at midday here in Aranjuez, the fact that we are down to just 16ºC at night shows that summer is on the way out.
It’s also harvest time for lots of fruit and vegetables. Courtesy of some friends who have a small farm in Toledo, we get sizeable amounts of tomatoes, apples, peaches and peppers. The big problem is what to do with them.
I’ve made tons of peach jam (or perhaps I should call it “preserve”). Ignoring the recipe books, I don’t bother skinning them: just chop into chunks, leave overnight with half their weight in sugar, add a lemon (halved) and boil until the syrup is thick. It doesn’t “set” (apparently the main concern when making jam in my native Ireland). I immediately bottle in preserving jars, sterilise in the pressure cooker and they’re ready for the winter. I’ve also got some blackcurrant jam from the bush in the garden (imported from Ireland), which yielded a whole kilo this year, and we are planning to go blackberrying in the local area this month (more jam!).
The tomatoes are of the “beefsteak” variety. The traditional method of storing tomato here in Spain is to chop and bottle, then cook in a water bath. The tomato’s natural acidity keeps the nasties away. In fact, before preserving jars became available, the standard recipient was a glass (e.g. wine) bottle, which required the whole family to sit around cramming tomato chunks into narrow-necked bottles using a funnel and a small stick. However, hardly anyone does this any more. It’s too much like hard work and you can buy tomatoes all year round in the shop (not to mention ketchup, canned tomatoes and something called “tomate frito”, which is the lazy man’s tomato sauce). Though I originally thought we would have to preserve some tomatoes, we’ve found that we can get through them in salads and by making pasta sauce.
Fresh tomato sauce
Gently fry chopped onion and garlic until very soft, i.e. at least 30 minutes, then roughly grate 2-3 soft tomatoes, add salt and sugar to taste, plus any herbs you fancy, e.g. bay leaf, oregano, and simmer until sauce is thick. If you can use good Italian pasta, all the better.
As for apples, I’ve made apple jelly (Irish recipe), which is something I’ve never seen in Spain, flavouring one batch with allspice and another with ginger. But there’s a limit to the amount of jams, jellies, etc.
Apple jelly
The original Irish recipe is for crab apples, but you can use windfalls, or damaged apples picked up cheap at the market. Roughly chop your apples, removing any damaged parts (and insects), but don’t discard the peel or cores. Put in a pot that is large enough and add just enough water to cover (or maybe a little less). Boil until the apples have been reduced to a pulp. Pour the whole lot into a pillowcase and hang over a large bowl to catch the juice. This is best left overnight. The standard warning is not to squeeze the bag as that will give you cloudy jelly.
If you’re not ready to make the jelly immediately, you can keep it in the fridge for a few days. When the time comes, measure out the juice and add the requisite amount of sugar (one pound per pint, or one kilo per litre, roughly). Add the juice of one lemon per litre and any flavouring you want (e.g. allspice berries). Boil until you can see it thickening (there is also the classic test of pouring a spoonful onto a cold plate to see if it gels). Bottle.
So I’ve been thinking about drying. We should have no trouble sun-drying vegetables in this climate, which is both hot and dry. An internet search turns up some interesting ideas from the US, such as this list from Buildit Solar and this article from GeoPathfinder*
I can’t say I’ll be making anything like that, but I certainly thinking on those lines.
