Tomato Jam

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart (5.7-litre) wide stainless-steel preserving pan
• •Fine food mill or sturdy fine-mesh sieve
• •Jelly bag or large piece of tightly woven muslin
• •Large colander and deep bowl
• •Candy or instant-read thermometer accurate at 236°F (113°C)
• •Long-handled heatproof spoon or spatula
• •Wide-mouth canning funnel
• •3 half-pint preserving jars with fitted lids

Instructions

1. 1

   Mill the tomatoes

   Slice the tomatoes finely, then pass every bit through a food mill fitted with its fine disk, or rub them firmly through a fine sieve. Keep both the juice and purée, discarding only the skins and seeds. A blender is not the equivalent here because it pulverizes the skins and seeds into the preserve instead of removing them.

   Work in small batches and scrape the underside of the sieve frequently. The thick purée clinging there belongs in the pan.
2. 2

   Boil five minutes

   Put the tomato juice and purée into a wide, heavy, nonreactive preserving pan. Bring them to a full boil and cook for exactly five minutes, stirring continuously across the pan floor. The brief boil loosens the remaining water from the vegetable pulp without cooking away the fresh tomato character.

3. 3

   Drain to pulp

   Line a large sieve or colander with damp scalded muslin, or set a jelly bag over a deep bowl. Pour in the boiled tomato mixture and leave it to drain for 4 hours, moving the setup to the refrigerator once it is no longer fiercely hot. Do not squeeze the bag, which forces watery sediment through the cloth. The pulp is ready when it is thick, matte, and no longer releases a steady drip. If liquid still runs when you lift the cloth, give it another hour. This draining is the dish, not idle waiting; water left here demands longer boiling later and flattens both tomato and vanilla.

4. 4

   Match the formula

   Weigh the drained pulp. Five pounds of tomatoes should give about 1 pound (454 g), though variety and ripeness decide the exact result. Measure an equal weight of sugar and 9 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (140 ml) red-currant juice for every pound (454 g) of pulp. For another yield, use 100 g sugar and 31 ml red-currant juice for each 100 g pulp. Trust the scale here, not the apparent volume.

5. 5

   Cook the sugar

   Use the measured sugar, 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g) of the water, and the split vanilla bean with its seeds to prepare The Cooking of Sugar (No. 2344), stopping at the small-ball stage, 236°F (113°C). A thermometer is the honest home equivalent of testing boiling syrup with the fingers. Skim away any froth as the syrup boils. If crystals gather around the rim, cover the pan for one minute so condensation washes them down. If the syrup turns grainy, lift it from the heat, add the reserved water 1 tablespoon at a time, and warm gently until it is clear before returning to small-ball stage.

6. 6

   Reach the nappe

   Take the syrup off the heat before adding the tomato pulp in three portions, stirring with a long-handled spoon because the mixture can spit. Stir in the measured red-currant juice, then return the pan to high heat. Boil rapidly and stir without stopping, sweeping the corners and the entire floor of the pan, until the jam reaches nappe, the coating stage: it gathers toward the centre of the lifted spoon and falls in slow, heavy drops instead of quick drips. Cook for 2 minutes more, then remove it from the heat. If the bottom catches, do not scrape it. Immediately pour the unburnt upper jam into a clean pan and finish over slightly lower heat. Ça se rattrape. If the cooled jam proves loose, return it to the pan and boil it back to nappe.

7. 7

   Pot and chill

   Remove the vanilla bean and let the confiture settle for 7 to 8 minutes. Use the hot-filling discipline of The Cooking, Potting, and Sealing of Jams (No. 2955), with a modern safety translation: ladle the jam into the clean hot jars, leave ¼ inch (6 mm) headspace, wipe the rims, and fit the lids. Cool completely, then refrigerate. The paper and glycerine closure described by the book is not used, and this refrigerator preserve should not be stored at room temperature. Let it rest overnight before serving so the vanilla settles through the tomato. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Five pounds is not an exaggeration. Tomatoes carry an astonishing amount of water, and a juicy variety may leave even less than one pound of usable pulp. Weigh what remains and let that number govern everything.
• •Red-currant juice means pure, unsweetened, finely strained juice, not cordial, jelly, or a sweetened juice drink. Tomato has too little pectin to form this confiture alone, so changing the currant changes the set as well as the sweetness.
• •The thermometer removes bravado from sugar cooking. Stop at 236°F (113°C); carry the syrup further and its concentration becomes wrong once the wet pulp enters.
• •This is a sweet vanilla-scented confiture, not a savoury tomato chutney. Serve a small spoonful with fresh chèvre, a country terrine, or buttered brioche, where its bright acidity can do useful work.
• •If the confiture sets harder than intended, warm it gently with 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) water per cup of jam. Add no more until the first spoonful is completely incorporated.

Advance Preparation

• •The tomatoes may be milled, boiled, and left to drain under refrigeration overnight. Weigh the pulp the next day and continue with the sugar and red-currant ratios.
• •The finished confiture tastes rounder after resting in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Keep it chilled and use it within 1 month.
• •For longer storage, freeze the cooled confiture in freezer-safe containers with room for expansion for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator and stir before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 20g)