Features
The tyranny of trends
Every chef and restaurateur with an eye on market trends learns the importance of fads and fashion. There are endless examples of foods that at some time are accorded primary status and importance in the public mind, often way beyond any intrinsic merit and almost entirely attributable to fashions insatiable appetite for newness. Insider sources tell me that salt is the next big thing; not just any old salt but salt gathered in the sun from exotic seaweeds, fine accumulations of ancient salts from the deep interiors of Alpine caves and, most bizarre of all, salt from the sweat of grazing buffalo herds on American plains. All soon to be featured on the rarefied menus of the great restaurants of the world! If that sounds incredible, consider how water has been a pawn in the fashion game for many years. Water is no longer merely water. Fashion has subjected it to makeover. Adulteration is a legitimate exercise.
We have witnessed fashion's anointing of the kiwi fruit, sun-dried tomatoes, wild rocket, pesto, anchovies and, of course, olive oil, without which any self-respecting cook is made to feel inferior. We should be wary of the tyranny of trends. Fashion has no interest in authenticity; its currency is novelty and titillation. That is not to say that the food items listed above are not worthy and useful; it is their sudden celebrity that is so patently false. They suffer too when fashion leaves them behind to languish in the realm, 'old hat'. Celebrity is like that.
Some foods seem impervious to trends, always available, always popular. A is for always, A is for apple. This year has been a great one for apples. Like so much that is good in the garden there is a period of glut, too much at one time. The challenge is to devise ways of making the most of abundance. Apples make wonderful jelly, using up large quantities of the fruit including windfalls.
The measurements in this recipe are merely to indicate proportions. You can make as much jelly as you have apples for.
Apple Jelly
- 500g unpeeled, uncored cooking apples or a mix of eaters and cookers.
- 2 lemons squeezed for juice. Keep the peel.
- Water.
- Sugar.
Wash, then chop apples roughly into a pot, add lemon peel and barely cover with water.
Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring now and then, until the fruit is soft - about an hour.
Strain the soft pulp through a jelly bag or muslin overnight (I use a homemade contraption of muslin and strainer over a stainless steel bowl sitting in an upturned stool)
Add the reserved lemon juice to the strained apple juice. For every 250ml liquid add 220g sugar.
Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves and then let it boil rapidly, without stirring until a set stage is reached. Do this by testing successive tablespoons on a saucer in the fridge for a few minutes to detect the telltale wrinkling on the way to setting.
Turn off the heat and let the jelly stand for five minutes before pouring through a sieve into hot sterilised jars. The sieve will collect any scum that has formed during boiling.
Sterilise jars by washing in hot soapy water, then rinse and place upside down on a baking tray in a 150C/300F oven for twenty minutes. Turn the oven off. The jars should remain hot for fifteen to twenty minutes.
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