Before modern refrigerators became commonplace in households, people relied on the age-old practice of preserving food items in cans for future use. To do this, specific ingredients were added to create a solution that would last for a long time without going stale. Fruit was then placed inside this syrupy substance and canned, leading to the development of various types of jams, jellies, and conserves.
Jam
Jam is created by boiling fresh fruit with sugar until it becomes thick enough to be spread on bread. This process involves crushing whole fruits and adding them to sugar to be boiled, resulting in a thick consistency that does not spread as easily as jelly. Jams are a popular choice for parents looking to make food more appealing and tasty for their children.
Conserves
Conserves, also known as fruit conserves, serve the same purpose as jam – to be spread on bread and other food items for added flavor. They are typically very thick and contain dried fruits cooked in a sugary medium. Conserves can be described as whole fruit jams, created by stewing whole fruits in a syrupy base to allow the sugar to penetrate the fruit and alter its taste to something more similar to jam. Sometimes, multiple layers of sugar are applied to the whole fruit and left for a few hours to seep inside before heating it in the syrupy mixture to create the conserve. Popular conserves include plum and gooseberry varieties, and the process of making them requires considering the fruit’s skin.
Key Takeaways
- Jam is made by cutting, crushing, and boiling fruits in a sugary medium so that the fruit releases pectin and sets into a structure that can be easily spread on bread.
- Conserves are made by preserving whole fruits with skins in a sugary base, a process that does not allow the entire pectin of the fruit to be released.
- Conserve is a whole fruit jam, while an ordinary jam has crushed fruit incorporated into the final product.
