The Art of Preserving: Ancient Techniques and Modern Inventions to Capture Every Season in a Jar

Even the best stocked supermarkets can’t compete with the variety and flavors you can achieve through preserving at home. This small volume, while merely scratching the surface of possibilities, nevertheless offers a delicious assortment of jams, spreads, chutneys, conserves, sauces, and pickles, ranging from everyday to extraordinary, to tempt your appetite and encourage your creativity. The preserves in this book aren’t difficult, even with little experience, although you should expect to need practice, and things may not always go according to plan, depending on your ingredients, the weather, and maybe stellar alignment.

One of the more unusual jellies is an apple jelly made with black pepper and cumin. It’s an intriguing combination, but you may wonder when you would use it? Helpfully, the author offers serving suggestions for each recipe––this one is great served with cheese, or it could work as a glazing sauce. The recipes have various storage requirements, but none require endless hours over a water bath or pressure canner. Many can be made and served the same day, like the incredibly quick but absolutely decadent Butterscotch Sauce, which made a lovely topping for a pound cake. Others (especially chutneys) need up to a month or more to mature, so plan ahead.