Rhubarb and ginger

This Rhubarb & Ginger jam recipe comes from The Dairy Book of British Food and can also be found on The Great British Kitchen web site.

Well, the first fruit that became available to me is actually a vegetable – yes, rhubarb. My dad grows two varieties in his garden in Soham, one produces red sticks and the other green. I chose the red variety (Cherry Red) for this recipe as I thought it would look pretty. I picked the rhubarb on 10 June and made the jam the next day. My partner, Ben, had offered to buy some sugar and he came back with jam sugar so I had to break one of my commandments already and use sugar with pectin. I hardly stirred the fruit while it was boiling and this produced four jars of very thick, chunky, delicious, ruby coloured jam. I think I would stir the fruit more and use plain granulated sugar next time just to break the rhubarb down and make it a little easier to spread.

My jam commandments

1. I will only use fruit from the gardens of family and friends or local farms
2. I shall not use jam sugar with pectin
3. I shall give 90% of my jam to friends, family and colleagues
4. I will use a Le Creuset 24cm round casserole pot (4.2L / 7.50pt)
5. I will not use a microwave
6. I will taste each jam before proffering

Now let's see how many I will break!

The basics

All I did before I began my journey was read the Ten Steps to Jam-Making that can be found on Delia Smith's web site.

Another essential source of information is Jams, Preserves and Chutney by Marguerite Patten.