Who invented the jam and when? How long ago did this happen, which people were the first to start stocking berries and fruits in the form of jams?

An ancient Russian term for a boiled delicacy, that is, any berries, fruits, nuts, vegetables and flowers cooked in a sweet environment (honey, molasses, sugar) (from vegetables - carrots, radishes, pumpkin, green tomatoes, turnips, chicory; from flowers - rose petals, rose hips, Japanese chrysanthemum petals, ylang-ylang flowers, dandelion). The term has retained its meaning to this day, but at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. it was often replaced by the word chanting.
In international culinary terminology, the word jam is accepted to denote exclusively Russian national types of coding, in contrast to French (confiture), English (jam), Middle Eastern (fig), Central Asian (cue), Ukrainian (jam).

Jam is prepared from whole uncrushed berries or fruits (fruits), and in the case of chopping, they are cut into large slices (or halves). Jam syrup is always thick, always transparent, preserving the natural color of berries or fruits. The berries must adhere firmly to the syrup (do not sink to the bottom and do not float). Unfortunately, this traditional standard of Russian jam is not always kept up both because of ignorance of the rules of preparation and because of the violation of the technology of cooking it by mixing it with other types of candying. It turns out "hybrids" of jam and jam with a different concentration and consistency, which quickly turn sour, candied, rancid, moldy.
The basic rule when making jam is the ratio of equal volumes of berries and sugar (liter per liter, not kilogram per kilogram). It is obligatory to cleanse (boil down) sugar, boil hard fruits in syrup, and soft tender berries, previously covered with sugar, only after they let the juice out. For most berries and fruits, a thorough pre-treatment is necessary: ​​washing several times with cold water, blanching, pricking, removing the seeds. All these operations are carried out in order to preserve the shape of the berry or fruit, color, prevent overcooking and minimize foam during cooking.
First, the jam is cooked over high heat, and then - low, with the obligatory removal of the foam, but without any stirring. It is only allowed to shake the basin or pan slightly before the very end of cooking. So that the jam is not overcooked and does not lose its natural color (during digestion, it darkens or dries up), they resort to this method: after the first 15-20 minutes of cooking, put the jam to cool for 3-4 hours, and then again on the fire for the same time. Some fruits with delicate pulp, for example apricots, peaches, are only poured with boiling sugar syrup many times, and the fruits themselves are boiled for only a few minutes, at the last stage of cooking. Hard fruits (such as quince, strong pears) are slowly boiled in a prepared liquid syrup.

An indicator of the readiness of the jam is not the cooking time, which varies depending on the temperature of the fire, air, humidity outside and in the room, on atmospheric pressure and the material of the dishes, etc., but such signs as the disappearance of foam, the transparency of the syrup, the transparency of the body "berries or fruit, the strength of a drop of syrup (should not spread on the saucer) and the strength of the syrup thread (a drop of syrup between the thumb and forefinger should stretch into a torn thread when diluted. The fragility of this thread is an indicator of the syrup digestion, and the absence is an indicator of undercooking.

After readiness, the jam, covered with a linen towel (to pull off excess residual moisture), should cool in the same dish where it was cooked. Immediately after cooling, it should be transferred to dry, heated glass jars, filled to the top, and covered with oiled paper.

Russian jam

excursion into history

It is believed that making jam from berries and fruits is a Russian tradition; European analogues of jam are confiture (in France) and jam (in England). According to the Russian tradition, jam is made from whole or coarsely chopped fruits and berries, while jam, confiture or marmalade, like jam, is made on the basis of mashed ones. In jam, the syrup should be thick and transparent, the berries should hold well in it - not sink to the bottom and not float.

Since sugar was very expensive until the end of the 19th century, molasses and honey were used to make jam. Jam was available only to rich people, as it was an expensive pleasure. They made jam without honey: the berries were boiled for 5-6 hours without an open fire in a heated Russian oven.

In general, jam was cooked mainly in noble estates, and usually the hostess herself supervised this important matter, and each hostess had her own secrets. The ability to make jam was given great importance. The noble girls were taught this in the same way as drawing, singing, playing the piano.

Among fruit, which were used for jam, the main thing was, of course, apples... It is believed that the cultivated apple tree appeared in the monastery gardens of Kievan Rus in the XI-XII century. Especially famous was the apple orchard, founded by Yaroslav the Wise (in 1051) and later known as the garden of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Moscow gardens are mentioned in written documents of the 14th century, and in Domostroy the first tips for garden maintenance are already given. Apples could be eaten no earlier than August 19 (6 according to the new style) - the day of the Savior of the Apple (this is the popular name for the church holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord); at the same time they began to cook apple jam.

Other fruit trees from the fruits of which jams were made - pear, cherry, plum - began to be grown in Russia much later (from about the 15th century), not to mention such southern crops as quince, apricot and peach.

In the garden of every landowner, they certainly grew berry bushes- raspberries and blackberries, currants and gooseberries. The collection of berries is described by Pushkin in Eugene Onegin - remember when the girls were told to sing songs, “so that the master's berries would not secretly eat the crafty lips”? The collected berries were mainly used for jam.

All these shrubs grow wild in forests throughout Russia, especially along forest edges, in burnt-out areas and clearings, along the banks of rivers and streams. Their berries have always been harvested in the forest, but even now many believe that wild raspberries or currants are tastier, more aromatic and healthier than those grown in the garden.

Like many other plants, cultivated raspberries, currants and gooseberries in Russia were first grown in monasteries. For example, there is reliable evidence that already in the XI century. currants were bred in Novgorod and Pskov monasteries. Around the same time, they began to grow gooseberries and raspberries, a little later they migrated to the gardens of wealthy townspeople and the estates of landowners. The first cultivated plants differed little from wild ones; an abundance of varieties appeared only in the 19th century.

Especially popular in Russia enjoyed gooseberry, which used to be called "bersen", or "kryzh bersen" (Bersenevskaya embankment near the Moscow Kremlin owes its name to the gardens on the banks of the Moskva River, where gooseberries were grown). There were many varieties of gooseberries (also called "northern grapes") and many recipes for jam from them. For example, "royal" jam was made from unripe green gooseberry berries, peeled from seeds, boiled in syrup, in which a cherry leaf was previously boiled. Catherine II was very fond of gooseberry jam. Almost all the old varieties of gooseberries were lost at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was attacked by a disease imported from America - spheroteka, gooseberry powdery mildew... The few surviving shrubs and those created by subsequent selection have produced the current gooseberry varieties.

Loved in Russia and currant, especially black. We began to cultivate it much earlier than in the countries of Western Europe, where only at the end of the 17th century. began to show interest in black currant as a medicinal plant. The berries grown in monastic and lordly gardens were used for jams and liqueurs, and the peasants picked currants in the forest, dried the berries, or evaporated in the oven, or made levishniki (or levashniki) from them - thin layers of grated berries dried in the sun. Then they cooked jelly from dried or evaporated berries or made fillings for pies. Russia and now remains the leader in the cultivation of currants in the world market.

Raspberries probably the sweetest of our berries - not without reason, and in folk proverbs and sayings, it is mentioned as a symbol of all the sweetest and most delicious. In addition to its wonderful taste and aroma, raspberry jam has long been prized for helping fight colds - in fact, it has mild antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Like other berry bushes, cultivated raspberries at first differed little from wild ones, and it was only in the 19th century that many different varieties appeared. Now raspberries are yellow, black, white, and a wide variety of shades of their natural crimson color. Modern varieties are very different in taste and smell, among them are fruitful all season and with berries almost finger-long. But the most fragrant and healing, as before, is the wild raspberry, especially ripe in the sun.

Much less than raspberries were grown by its closest relative blackberry, which is also found in our forests in the wild. Perhaps one of the reasons was sharp thorns - it is not without reason that many varieties of thornless blackberries have now appeared. Blackberry jam tastes and looks like raspberry jam, but without the wonderful raspberry smell.

In the north of Russia, in the forests and swamps, there are other berries that look like raspberries, but with a completely different taste - cloudberries and prince. They also make very good jam.

Stands apart among the berries for jam Strawberry, as usual (and incorrectly) is called a garden large-fruited strawberry. To begin with, all its varieties come from a hybrid of two American species, which appeared only at the beginning of the 18th century in France, and reached Russia half a century later. At the end of the 18th century, strawberries began to be cultivated in Russia almost everywhere, but almost always it remained a "lordly" berry, inaccessible to the common people. Although wild strawberries, found in our forests, began to grow much earlier - for example, high-quality strawberries were in the garden of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Strawberry or wild strawberry jam has always demanded special art - these berries are painfully tender!

Many wild berries, from which jams were made, and even more harvested for the winter in other ways, were never grown until the end of the 20th century, since they also gave abundant harvests in the forest. it blueberry(and her own sister blueberry), cowberry, cranberry... In addition, for jam used rowan and viburnum- in their raw form, these berries are quite bitter, but in jams they are very good, especially in combination with apples.

Sometimes several different berries were combined in the jam, nuts, citrus zest, and spices were added to it. Jams were made not only from fruits and berries, but also from flowers (for example, jam made from rose petals is famous), as well as from various vegetables (carrots, radishes, turnips). It is known that Ivan the Terrible was very fond of cucumber jam with honey.

All of these fruits and berries have many beneficial properties - but is this benefit preserved when jam is made from them? When fruits are digested with sugar, of course, they lose most of the vitamins degraded by heat. Modern options - five-minute jam and especially "raw jam" (berries, usually chopped, are mixed with sugar, but not boiled) - allow you to save much more vitamins than traditional jam, but they are stored worse (sometimes only in the refrigerator).

Jam can also be a medicine, like raspberry for colds. The medicinal properties of raspberries are explained by the content of certain organic acids in it. Useful acids that reduce inflammation and help fight germs remain in jams made from other berries, such as cranberries, lingonberries, and mountain ash. In general, in folk medicine, almost all berries were used in various forms; they were believed to help with a variety of diseases.

In addition to vitamins, berries contain many trace elements that are also necessary for the normal functioning of our body. They are not destroyed when exposed to heat, so that these useful substances remain in the jam in full.

Pigments from the anthocyanin group - abundant in black currants and blueberries - have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It is believed (although not yet scientifically proven) that they have beneficial effects on vision and improve the condition of blood vessels. These pigments also remain intact in a properly prepared jam, which can be determined with the naked eye - by color.

It is possible that other useful components of berries are preserved in jam, for example, flavonoids, tannins, essential oils and many others.

The main thing to remember when talking about the possible benefits of jam is the large amount of sugar in it. And the multifarious harm from an excess of sugar - unfortunately for all those with a sweet tooth - has been irrefutably proven by medical science.

Jam- a delicacy that is in demand in many countries. In Russia, it is a sweet mass with any berries, nuts, fruits, flowers and even vegetables. A distinctive feature is the preservation of the original shape of the fruit (they can also be chopped, but not twisted). In other countries, jam (Great Britain and the United States), jam (Ukraine), figs (Middle Eastern countries), cue (Central Asian countries) or confiture (France) are often made. In fact, this is the same jam, only the fruits and berries are grated or crushed in another way to form a jelly-like composition.

Jam history

The history of the appearance of jam allows us to find out that the product itself is an ancient Slavic dessert that originated in Russia. Previously, people did not have sugar, so they successfully replaced it with honey by boiling fruits with it. Spices, herbs and natural preservatives (honey, vegetable oil) were also often added. The jam was cooked in the oven, since an open fire did not allow you to easily maintain heat for several hours.

In ancient times, jam was prepared for medicinal purposes, therefore, rosehip and walnut delicacies were very common. Almost every family harvested a significant amount of berries and fruits that were harvested in summer and autumn. The main difference between old jam and modern counterparts is the use of sugar and fructose as preservatives in the latter.

It is interesting! The most famous type of jam can be called Kiev dry. Outwardly, it is very similar to ordinary candied fruits.

Product in other countries! There is also one of the interesting versions of the origin of jam, which has a "Scottish trace". According to her, in the 18th century, the Scottish girl Janit Keiler invented the processing of oranges with sugar, which allowed them to keep them fresh for a long time. In Western countries, jam is not very common today. There they usually replace jam with jam, jam, confiture.

Also, some researchers have a different version of the appearance of a sweet treat. They are convinced that Turkish delight was the predecessor of such a product. It was previously brewed from a variety of fruits, adding honey, starch and rose water.

Benefit and harm

Knowing the benefits and harms of jam, you can understand whether it is worth eating jam at all. The first beneficial property of the product is the ability to improve mood, since jam is considered a good antidepressant due to a significant percentage of sugar. It is he who, in the process of splitting, provokes the production of serotonin, which is called the hormone of joy.

The jam contains a significant amount of coarse dietary fiber, which activates intestinal peristalsis. They also minimize the amount of cholesterol that enters the bloodstream.

Certain types of jam (raspberry, cranberry, blackcurrant, mountain ash, lingonberry, walnut and some others) are useful in themselves due to their composition, producing an immunostimulating effect. They are indicated for colds. Other types of jam are also useful, for example, apricot strengthens the cardiovascular system and increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood, pear improves blood composition and prevents atherosclerosis.

Jam can be harmful if consumed thoughtlessly in unlimited quantities. And it is also forbidden to add such a delicacy to the diet in the presence of certain diseases, which include:

• allergic reaction;
• diabetes;
• obesity and overweight;
• caries;
• stomach ulcer.

Also, do not give jam to children under the age of three. It is better to give the child pure fruit. So they will be more useful.

Jam types

There are an incredible variety of jam types. All recipes that can be used to prepare a product are divided into two main categories:

• raw (without heating);
• classic (boiled, that is, with heat treatment).

Also, the classification of jam involves the use of different products:

• berry (strawberry, cherry, fig and others);
• fruit (pear, quince, apple and others);
• vegetable (carrot, squash, tomato, beetroot, radish, turnip, pumpkin, onion, cucumber, eggplant, etc.);
• from flowers (pink, lavender, from chrysanthemum, ylang-ylang, dandelion).

In general, jam is cooked from various products: nuts, peels (watermelon, orange), melon, pineapple, zucchini, potatoes, grapes, pine cones, cacti and even chestnuts. Very often, several ingredients are combined to improve taste. Additionally, you can use various spices and aromatic components, for example, cherry or currant leaves, ginger, rum, cinnamon, liqueur, citrus zest, mint, citric acid, almonds, cardamom, cloves or chili peppers.

It is interesting! Catherine II really liked gooseberry jam, and Ivan the Terrible's favorite delicacy was a honey and cucumber dish.

The most useful types of jam include:

• raspberry;
• pine or spruce (from cones);
• viburnum;
• from walnuts (also from green peels);
• pink (from rose petals);
• from figs;
• sea ​​buckthorn;
• cranberry;
• dogwood;
• from black and red currants;
• mountain ash (from black chokeberry);
• from blueberries;
• from rhubarb;
• from elderberry;
• from cloudberries;
• onion;
• from feijoa;
• from tarragon;
• from mint;
• from dandelion flowers;
• from lingonberry.

And the most popular varieties include strawberry, apricot, cherry, plum, strawberry, mulberry (from mulberry), apple, nut, pumpkin, thorn, fig, quince, gooseberry, orange (lemon, tangerine, grapefruit) peels, peach, honeysuckle, linden, hawthorn, barberry, persimmon, and many others.

Jam and weight loss

Jam and weight loss can be compatible concepts. First, many types of jam are medicinal. For example, raspberry jam is indispensable for various colds, and viburnum jam has the ability to lower blood pressure. Secondly, there will be no harm to the figure when consuming a treat in reasonable quantities. Of course, you cannot use jam uncontrollably, as it contains a lot of sugar. However, this product is a great alternative to chocolate bars with a variety of fillings and cake pieces.

That is why there is nothing wrong with eating a couple of spoons of jam with tea. You can add a treat to low-fat cottage cheese or make a milkshake. This will make the jam even healthy. But it is better to refuse jamming problems, as this will very quickly affect your figure.

It is worth remembering that many people prepare jam in order to preserve useful substances for the winter, which are contained in fruits and berries. But during the cooking process, most of them are lost. To create a really healthy product, it is worth choosing the "five-minute" cooking technology, which also involves the use of a small amount of sugar. Raw materials also do not boil too much and can be stored for a long time.

It is interesting! The most useful (and most importantly - not harmful to the figure) is pumpkin jam. 100 grams of this delicacy contains about 180 calories. That is why there will be no harm from two tablespoons of such pumpkin jam, but it will be quite possible to quench the craving for sweets.

Many girls are also interested in how to replace jam and sweets while losing weight. The most optimal type of replacement is fresh fruits and berries. You can also eat different types of nuts, but in limited quantities due to their calorie content.

Cooking technology

A lot of jam-making technologies are known. They are similar in many ways, but the commonly used ingredients and cooking times differ. A distinctive feature of the jam is the preservation of berries and fruits, as well as the preservation of volume. Usually, when cooking fruits with seeds, it is possible to save up to 90% of the volume, and when cooking fruits in slices or pieces, up to 70% -80%. Cooking using the "five-minute" technology is most in demand. It is suitable for making jam from any ingredients. The algorithm is as follows:

• ingredients are washed and cut as needed;
• then the ingredients are poured with sugar syrup and cooked for 5 minutes;
• after that, the dish is cooled for 2-3 hours;
• then the process of cooking and cooling is repeated 4 more times.

Other common recipes can be found in the table.

You can additionally add thin slices of ginger to any jam recipe. This will add spice to the finished dish, it will turn out sweet and slightly tart. By the way, this will enhance the beneficial properties of the product, preventing colds.

Another unusual addition is rum with ginger and dark chocolate. A product with such components must be boiled until thickened. The result is an incredibly tasty mass with a light chocolate aroma.

Where to use?

You can use jam for various purposes. It can be a great dessert dish or addition to:

• buns or liver;
• dryers or flat cakes;
• toast or croutons;
• pancakes or cheese cakes;
• dumplings or casseroles;
• different cereals.

In addition, pies, muffins, pastries, cakes, rolls, cookies and other types of pastries are often baked with jam. Jam can become a kind of sauce, which is served with yoghurt, jelly, soufflé, sweet omelets, puddings, ice cream, curd dishes, cottage cheese and a variety of dessert dishes. It is recommended to add a delicacy to tea instead of sugar, to use it as an ingredient when making jelly.

It is interesting! The product can be used universally and is often used to make alcoholic beverages such as liqueurs, wines or liqueurs. They turn out fragrant and sweet, and if time permits, then you can make liqueur.

Eat a sweet treat in moderation, and then both the body and the figure will only benefit from it. Choose your favorite ingredients and enjoy their unusual taste. In small quantities, you can feast on jam every day, which is especially important in winter to maintain immunity and good mood.

For a long time, it is believed that cooking berries and fruits, as a result of which we get delicious jam, is a Russian tradition. According to tradition, it is prepared from whole or coarsely chopped berries or fruits, the syrup in the jam should be transparent and thick, the berries should be evenly distributed in it, they should not float or settle

In Europe, jam is considered analogous, in France - confiture, in England - jam. It differs from Russian jam in that mashed berries are used for its preparation, and not whole or coarsely chopped.

Previously, only rich people could afford jam, because sugar was very expensive. For its preparation, mainly honey or flow was used, sometimes it was boiled for 5-6 hours in a Russian oven, without honey.

Each housewife had her own, special recipe for jam, as well as her own secrets and tricks. In those days, the ability to make jam was given great importance, therefore, noble girls were taught this, just like the ability to read, draw, etc. etc.

The apple was the first fruit to be used for jam. And all this is because the apple tree appeared in Russia in the 11th - 12th centuries, in the monastery gardens of Kievan Rus.

Much later, around the 15th century, cherries, plums and pears were cultivated and used for jam in Russia.
Also, in the garden, the landowners had berry bushes - gooseberries, currants, raspberries, etc. from which berries. They also made jam.

Nowadays, many of these shrubs grow wild all over Russia, and their berries are still harvested by many in the forest or on the edges of clearings.

Many cultures in Russia were the first to be cultivated by monks in monasteries. These crops include raspberries, currants, and gooseberries.

Gooseberry, in Russia, was very popular, even then, there were many of its varieties. In those days, the "royal" jam was very famous, which was cooked from unripe green gooseberry berries peeled from seeds, and cherry leaves, which were previously boiled to prepare syrup, made its taste special. But, unfortunately, almost all gooseberry varieties died at the beginning of the 20th century. This is due to the disease - gooseberry powdery mildew and brought it to Russia from America. The shrubs that survived were used to create the current gooseberry varieties.
If we are talking about Russia, then we must definitely mention the currant, and especially the black one. Jam was made from a medicinal plant and liqueurs were prepared, and the peasants collected it in the forest, dried berries or boiled them in the oven. Then jelly was cooked from these berries, used for pies.

Raspberry, for a long time, has been considered a medicinal plant, everyone knows about its ability to fight colds, and also, this berry is considered the sweetest of all available berries. Jam from these berries turns out to be tasty, aromatic and healing.

Let's take a look at the history of jam, where was it invented?

It turns out that the term "boiling" is of ancient Russian origin, as in Russia in the 18th century they called a boiled delicacy. Along with the word jam, the term "candying" was also used, that is, boiling in sugar syrup.

What is the name of a sweet and healthy delicacy in other countries?

For the French it is confiture, for the British it is jam, the inhabitants of the Middle East call the delicacy a fig, and in Central Asia it is called a cue. These are such interesting words with different stems, but denoting the same product.

From the history of jam

The primacy of the invention, according to historians, belongs to the ancient Greeks. They boiled quince fruits in honey over low heat until they reached a viscous consistency. The ancient Romans liked the invention of the Greeks, and they gladly took the baton from them, but went further and wrote down recipes for making delicacies from plums, apples, lemon and rose petals in the Apicus cookbook in the 5th century.

The Persians brought zest to the preparation of fruit sweets, they learned to boil berries with added sugar. At the same time, they added a large amount of spices, turning the dish into a hot sauce, which was served with meat dishes.

The inhabitants of the Ancient East actively cooked Turkish delight, the ingredients for which were: fruits, honey, starch and rose water. The Europeans did not add starch, and their version became rich and fruity.

Features of Russian national jam

Let's give a definition. Jam is a sweet product that is made by boiling ripe whole berries or fruit pieces with sugar.

There are rules and they must be followed:

• During cooking, the fruit should remain intact and retain its natural color.
• At the end of boiling, the syrup has a transparent structure and flows down from the spoon in a heavy stream.
• It is customary to cook fruits in a large container, preferably in an aluminum bowl.
• In addition to jam, our hostesses make jam, marmalade and confiture.

There is a Scottish legend that says that Janit Keiler's husband bought bitter oranges on a Spanish ship located in Dundee Bay. Jenit did not throw away the fruits, but made a sweet dessert from them, called jam after the name of the discoverer.

Modern technology for making jam

Jam is a jelly-like structure made from berries, fruits or vegetables. For the preparation of this dessert, crumpled, cracked fruits are suitable, but they should not be spoiled. Jam is prepared in several stages. At the first stage, they blanch, for which they are treated with boiling water or steam. Next, the processed fruits are placed in a wide bowl, for example, a basin, covered with sugar or poured with syrup and boiled over high heat. As soon as the contents of the basin boil, the fire is reduced. Boil until thick so that the jam flows down in a trickle. When the jam has cooled, it should fall in chunks.

Jam cooking technology

There is little difference between jam and confiture. The word is of French origin "confiture", which in translation sounds like "boil in sugar." The French were the first to use gelatin for the thickness of the finished product.

You can cook confiture all year round, even using frozen berries. Citric acid and vanillin are also used as additives for originality of taste.

Jam is a word of Polish origin. Who invented the recipe is not known for certain, but in Poland, women boiled pitted and sugarless plums to a thick consistency in several steps. Spices were added instead of sugar. The finished jam was laid out in clay pots and baked in an oven. Such a delicacy was stored for several years.

The modern technology of jam preparation has preserved the old traditions, but modern housewives cook it with sugar from berry puree.

Subject to all the rules of the technology for making jam, jam, confiture and marmalade, these sweets are stored for a long time.