The history of sweet and sour jam

A love potion, a digestive aid, a lively snack, and an extravagant royal sweetness, jam has played many roles throughout its history. Jam is a condiment made from fruit, sugar and pectin. Having evolved from a simple method of preserving fruit over the seasons into a delicacy favored by royalty, jam is very similar to jelly, which is softer, and fruit preserves, which are more granular.

Today, jam remains a very popular commodity. While most of us make do with homemade or supermarket-bought jams, there are more premium options. Among these options, in particular, is the strawberry jam of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, the first product of her American Riviera Orchard brand, which she sent last week to influential friends in individually numbered jars, via artistic printing.

Whether you’re a fan of the jam or not, its evolution reveals a rich history, less sweet than one might expect.

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of jam, as similar foods have been around for centuries. They were not common in ancient times, reveals Mary Ann Bormans, culinary historian and author of Preservation Techniques Using Honey or Sugar. Great British baked goods And based on deja food, and a finalist on the TV show Great British Bake Off, the British version of Best Pastry Chef.

However, according to Bormans, the oldest jam recipe known to date was found in De re coquinaria (cooking art) by Apicius, written in 4^H century AD, at the height of the Roman Empire. He’s talking about ground quince with honey, something that can’t be compared to modern jam.

Honey was commonly used to preserve food, especially fruit, around the world, as Sarah B. noted. Hood in her book Jams, jellies and marmalades: a global historyEditor’s note).

Honey was inexpensive, easy to find, and had natural antibacterial properties. But sugar makes jam better. Sugarcane originated in Southeast Asia and it was not until sugarcane was introduced to Persia, between 3^H And 6^H Last century, this jam as we know it was made for the first time.

“If we had to pick one nation as the inventor of jam and marmalade, it would be the Sasanian Persian Empire, which had been cultivating sugar from the sixth century.^H Written by Sarah B. Hood: “In the 2000s, he would be a good candidate.”

Centuries later, the Crusades spread the use of sugar into the cuisine of medieval Europe, creating new ways of preserving fruit and making desserts, provided one could afford them.

“Sugar was rare and expensive,” Bormans explains. “Therefore jam was the prerogative of the rich and a symbol of high status.”

So perhaps it is not surprising that jam became a favorite royal condiment. In the late 17th century, Louis XIV served jam to his guests as a luxurious dessert made from fruit grown in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was also a great fan of jam. The latter also gave its name to Victoria sponge cake: layers of sweet sponge cake surrounded by strawberry jam. To this day, Buckingham Palace still sells its own strawberry jam.