When Sister sends jam in a balikbayan box, she sends enough bottles for a normal healthy person to turn diabetic in a fortnight. :) When the shipment includes several stunningly good raspberry jams that are so redolent of summer and so lightly altered that some almost whole fruit still exist, you throw dietary caution to the wind, and toast up a bagel or whatever most convenient carbohydrate you have handy to serve as a vessel for the jam to your mouth. I had a toasted bagel with cream cheese and some of the raspberry jam for breakfast. It was superb. Sister likes a very loose jam, almost like a thick sauce, but what really stood out was the intense raspberry flavor. Delicious!
And we aren’t taking 8oz jars here, this was a good 16-20 oz of jam, and one of three(!) bottles of raspberry in the box. :)
She also had a bottle of blackberry (another personal favorite), sour cherry, seville oranges/bergamot/whiskey and vanilla, and a rhubarb and blood orange preserve.
This photo above was taken as the morning sunlight hit our dining table. There is truly nothing as alluring as natural colors of food… And for all of you curious what was in that bottle of jam I posted yesterday? The correct answer is Buddha’s Finger Citron Marmalade. Can’t wait to try it. :)
31 Responses
My gosh! What a feast indeed! And gee, those guys who guessed right must really be jam fanatics..again, I say I learn so many things from MM’s blog.
Wow with bagel that’s toasted just right – slightly crispy and chewy. Drool. . . together with a cup of freshly brewed coffee…. Best way to start a day… and End a day… ha ha ha ..
Who needs gems when you have jams!
Nothing beats home-made jams. Wow, that’s jam heaven right there!
Was it two years ago, MM, that you also featured your treasure trove of jam from Sister? That made my knees go weak and inspired me to boil jam all summer. Buddha’s hand citron is one of the weirdest fruits ever, grotesque even, it looks like something from Japanese anime, no?
Khew, you’re right about the jam colors being gem-like. That was also true for Gej’s tomatoes in the pasta dish a few days ago. Jewels.
Love the spoon! Reminds me of Rachael Ray’s lazy spoon and ladle. :)
Didn’t join the guessing game because I had absolutely no clue what the marmalade is. Don’t even know what Buddha’s Finger is….will do some research right now. :)
pixienixie, it’s a jam spoon. I put a link to Buddha’s Finger at the end of the post, above. cumin, yes, and the veggies here looked like jewels/gems too. It’s the natural attractiveness of real colors from plants, fruits, nature… so stunning.
Those jams look lovely! Rhubarb and blood orange sounds very interesting… those fruits jams that sister made is not something that could be easily found in the grocery stores/supermarkets, especially here in the Philippines. I can’t imagine the amount of time spent in making those.
Those beautiful jams reminds me of bagel, too. I could only imagine how those would taste like on a toasted bagel with cream cheese or with butter or maybe just by itself. I have been missing my usual morning bagels after moving here in the Phils. from NYC.
Can anyone please tell me where I could buy a really good bagels here in Manila? And an excellent jam (not too commercial like Smuckers, and preferably raspberry) like the ones in the picture?? puhleeez….??
P.S: I love the spoon, too!! It’s genius!
nycgurley, you can get some bagels, not exactly H&H quality, but decent enough, at the Saturday Salcedo market. Freeze them and you can have them all week long if you like. They also sell whole wheat bagels, sesame bagels, etc. and bagel chips. They are located near the roasted calf guy…
I guessed right! at first I thought, takuan [pickled daikon/radish], but realized 1…NYC and 2…why pre-slice the darned thing…by the way someone else got it too just gave it a French name…cedrat…woohooo
J., yup, good answer… you move up to the next level on foodie trivia questions… :)
I was imagining how heavy the balikbayan box must have been and thought, well, there goes another guy with hern*a… :-)
Nycgurly, there’s a stall in Salcedo that sells homemade jams but i forget the name… Just check the stalls close to the one selling french crepes when you go buy your bagels…
MP, think HEAVY. Sister throws in all her old issues of food magazines, New Yorkers, any interesting NYTimes articles, fashion mags for Mrs. MM and the Teen, Architectural Digests, etc. It’s like getting a box filled with bricks! Trust me, I tip the delivery guys HEAVILY. :)
buddha hand marmalade! Please do let us know how it is–I’ve always thought of it more as a decorative item, or something used for it’s scent, rather than flavour.
An aside–other than one of the vendors at Salcedo, could you tell me where you managed to find that pineapple eye-er? I’m in Manila now and tomorrow is my last day. Haven’t had any success in finding one so far!
Thanks for the tip on the bagels. The store-bought ones don’t look appealing, and sometimes the coffee shops don’t even have them at breakfast time.
bettyQ: you get to keep your “vow” as you identified the marmalade correctly!
Rona Y, they have the pineapple eye remover in Divisoria sometimes. But if you happen to be in mandaluyong or thereabouts, there is a stainless steel/kitchen supplies dive on Pioneer street on the right side from EDSA to Shaw and they sometimes have it as well. I haven’t seen the tool in too many places otherwise…
Thanks MM & MP for the recommendations. I am so excited to go to Salcedo now.. those pictures of jam just made me weep and crave for raspberry jam, mucho! Wish I have a sister like that too! heee hee
J. And Ms. Connie C…as you know Ms. Connie C., typing does not like me! My brain often goes on overdrive when I am typing. I meant to say that comment would be the last comment ever on that THREAD and not post for I was getting big fat headaches wracking my brains trying to figure out what it was. having a migraine to begin with does not help at all…did not want to take any analgesics till the right time…So, I apologize if I offended you or anyone for that matter. typing on the IPad too does not help lalo na sa PHONE!!!!
Howver, so I do not get into anymore trouble as I have said in the other post in response to J…my husband suggested that I just continue reading blogs I enjoy following …food and gardening related but just confine to just READING THEM before calling it a day.
Happy Easter to all!
Cedrat is citron, another good candidate for marmalade.
Those are some very nice and very tasty looking jams…One question though, what do you do with all the jars once you’ve cleaned out all the jam? I can’t imagine that you send them back to your sister as I don’t think that would be very economical (but it would be very earth friendly). :-)
Ed B, many of these are standard Ball jar sizes, for which I often have extra new covers, so I can re-use the bottles. Also, they can be recycled for bagoong manufacture, or storage of legumes, specialty grains and rice. Also good for making simple pickles at home in your fridge rather than heat treated ones… so the bottles don’t go to waste… :)
Ah I see…I was just curious and was wondering if you’ve ever sold off any of the jars because Ball jars are still (I believe) difficult to find here in the Philippines, and are quite expensive if you do find them.
Ball jars are sometimes available in the True Value store in the basement of Rockwell, and other larger locations. They are pricey, sometimes up to PHP100 a jar, but re-usable. I buy new covers/tops when I manage to find them on trips to the U.S. and it is canning season (towards the end of the summer). The jars are very sturdy and most useful.
I wish sister will adopt me and send me those jams and marmalades too!
Thank you for the tip on where to find Ball jars. :D
Thanks! I was in that general area for a bit, but couldn’t spend much time looking. Next time!
BTW, the NYTimes has an article this week on Mallorcas, which is the word the author uses for Spanish ensaimada. If you’re interested in reading, the link to the article is https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/dining/the-mallorcas-of-san-juan.html and to the recipe is https://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014558/Mallorcas.html?pagewanted=print
Nice post sir! I love jams, especially the sweet and tart tasting combos. :)
I recently discovered Tamarind Jam and fell in love with it. My husband doesn’t like it even my “open-minded” (when it comes to food) parents hates the taste of it. I’m trying to find a Tamarind jam in the market, do you know and can you suggest (perhaps) a good one?
Rona, thank you very much for that link, I will definitely try the mallorcas recipe soon, it sounds really simplified. However, this does differ from an ensaimada mallorquina, for the sole reason that ensaimada was named after a critical ingredient, saim, or lard. But if this tastes good, and is easy to do, its worth a try… :)
Tamarind jam is delicious. You have to peel, then boil the ripe tamarind with a little water to loosen the brown pulp. Then push through a coarse strainer to remove the seeds and cellulose. Measure the pulp and add sugar one to one and cook until thickened. Adding a little pectin will reduce the cooking time and preserve more of the tamarind flavor.
You should try making it during tamarind season, marketman, Lola used to make it in the 1950’s.
Some additional notes about making the recipe were recently posted here https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/notes-from-the-recipe-tester-mallorcas/?partner=rss&emc=rss .
I hope you post about your experiment. The article states the recipe is based on the Mallorca of San Juan, Puerto Rico, so I am curious as to the differences in its evolution in the Philippines vs another Spanish colony. Which might be closer to the original, I wonder?
BTW, while in Manila I purchased a dozen of Addie Wijangco’s ensaymada. Delicious! Not really old-style, but full of butter and egg yolks. I shared one with a co-worker who unfolded one end of the wrapper, took a big whiff, and said, “This smells exactly like the butter my grandmother used to make. Pure fresh butter!” If I were in Manila, I would buy more!