I couldn’t resist these mandarins at the market the other day. Real mandarins, with branches and leaves. No glossy, plumped up “wrapped in plastic” specimens here. The man who sold them to me had a perplexed look on his face when I said I would be photographing them! And they were a delight to eat too. Juicy, with a wonderful perfumed aroma. I love to peel back their skins and seeing that wonderful, gorgeous orange flesh.
So what does one do when they buy a box and can’t finish them? They make mandarin jam! I suppose you could call it a marmalade but I couldn’t tell you the difference. Does marmalade have bigger chunks of orange in it? I was hanging out to make my own jam for a while now. It’s been ages since I’d featured one on the blog. Remember this quick blackberry jam I made? That was over a year and a half ago. I actually find the whole jam making process is very therapeutic. For this mandarin jam I decided to flavour it with a little vanilla bean and a tiny bit of Greek mastic that I was given a while ago. I couldn’t really taste the mastic and it was pretty much an afterthought. I probably need to increase the amount next time as I thought it would pair well with the mandarin jam. Whatever the case, this was wonderful on toast and I also got to use it on another sweet treat (recipe next week).
This recipe is quite simple. With anything involving boiling liquids and whole pieces of fruit be careful and take care!
RECIPE FOR MANDARIN JAM
(adapted from here-makes about 2 cups)
- 4 whole medium sized mandarins
- water for boiling
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup of caster sugar
- 1/2 a vanilla bean
- a pinch of Greek mastic
- Place whole mandarins (skin and all!) and lemon juice in a pot and barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer till mandarins are tender and soft to the touch.
- Remove mandarins from liquid and process in a food processor. Give them a few whizzes in the food processor but don’t let it all go mushy. We’re looking for a little texture here
- Return the fruit to the pot and add the sugar and the vanilla bean. Bring back to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Boil the mandarin jam mixture for about 30 mins – the seeds will rise to the surface during this time, and will be easy to remove
- Let the mixture cool and store in sterilised jars.
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That looks like a really good jam! We sometimes have real mandarines at the market too and I remember once when I wanted to photograph them I asked the guy behind the stall if I could please have some with pretty greens on them. He did look at me as I was slightly crazy until I explained I wanted to photograph them too. He was very helpful and went to the entire bunch to pick out the prettiest for me..:) I have never made mandarin jam though but it sounds like a great and delicious idea!
These are some really great looking mandarins. Your jam/marmalade looks great too. I love citrus jams they are both tart and sweet at the same time.
I LOVE mandarins. With the vanilla beans and the mastic (which I FINALLY purchased) this sounds delicious. I’m going to save this recipe for sure.
That jam looks divine! A recipe to try in a few monthes…
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmm I could go for a little of that on some buttered toast for breakfast! Almost makes me wish it were mandarin season over here.
this is the way we always buy mandarins, but not now becos they are out of season…
cant decide whether i like the jam or the photography better – nice work!
Beautiful jam, I just loved the dark yellow color of the jam, so different.
Mandarines, clementines and tangerines are some of the best things one can get from winter…
Cheers,
C.
wow, that`s really creative!
Wonderful recipe!! I love mastic , I think it gives a great “touch” in the jam!
I am familiar with taking mastic gum for h pylori (for stomach troubles). In cooking what kind of texture and what kind of flavor does it add to the food? The capsule gel sold to take orally does not dissolve well in water. Do you get yours from the health food store or from the grocery store? Do you dissolve it first in cold/ or in hot water or does it just dissolve upon contact with the hot food?
I wonder if a little citric acid would keep the jam from turning brown. I remember a post last week commenting on pomegranate pulp turning brown and loosing its beautiful red color.
LOve the mastiha touch – I’ve never made jam before but it looks like fun heating up the entire fruit and then pulverizing it. I see why its therapeutic. Next time I need some therapy I will think of this.
Sure would have enjoyed some of this on toast for breakfast Peter.
I made a small batch of mandarin jam a few weeks ago with 5 or 6 mandarins I had left over – but I just boiled the segments. Love the idea of boiling them whole! Lovely photos as always Peter.
An interesting twist to use mastic. It seems like mandarins are in abundance at the moment. Making jam is a great way of making use of the current bounty!
Peter – great touch to add the vanilla. The mandarins are indeed beautiful. You rarely (actually – never ever) see such wonderful fruit – they look like they’ve been freshly picked! Again, lovely pictures – truly inspiring my friend!
A simple way of making jam – I like! I will probably use the mandarin puree in a syrup cake
Hi Peter – Great post! Real mandarins are the best – they look great and taste even better (they are my fruit of choice!). I’ll definitely be trying this recipe! (p.s I tried your Green and Blacks Maya Gold cookie recipe recently – They were sooo good they have become a weekly staple in my house!!)
Great idea for a jam. I love mandarins. I miss the Greek ones sooo much.
I also enjoyed very much your previous post about photography.
Magda
It is not mandarin season here (summertime), but I know what you mean by that wonderful smell, and I’ll bookmark this for the future. I’m in Los Angeles this week, staying with Sippity Sup. It’s been fun to cook with another blogger. Maybe someday us.
Wow, that does look amazing. I’ll have to try it as soon as they are in season.
I just love the citrus season and we are very lucky here in Oz – our fruit is so good!
I am in a lemon frenzy today – we picked about 20 kilos off one of our trees!
I wonder what lemon marmalade is like…?
Gorgeous shots as usual Peter. I love Mandarins. Looks like a really delicious jam. Fruit is wonderful in their natural state. This was certainly a great find.
Kudos to you for finding these”real” madarins. I was looking for ideas what to do with the mandarins I have. Your mandarin jam has inspired me to turn them into jam. Great styling as always.
Just in time, Peter. I had been scratching my head, searching the internet, asking everyone I know….what to do with the bumper crop of mandarins my little tree produced this year. The marmalade/jam looks delicious and sounds so easy. Can’t wait to get into the kitchen. And you included my favourite ingredient – mastiha.
I originally kind of thought..uh Peter, isn’t mandarin jam kind of just marmalade? But I love the addition of the mastic & vanilla & the fact you use the whole mandarin. The first photo of the mandarins is stunning too. I kind of want to frame it & hang it in my kitchen
I think the vanilla is a very special addition to this jam. GREG
I now (finally as an adult) love citrus marmalades and jams. Lots of butter and your jam would be A-OK!
This looks wonderful, and I love your photo’s. You don’t see too many Mandarin Jams on the grocery shelf these days. I will have to give this a try.
Vanilla bean and mastic! Wow, never would have thought. I’ll have to try this one.
The difference between jam and marmalade s that the jam doesn’t include rind. Marmalade can be bought with out the rind but to me that’s just jam. I would revise some Paddington bear episodes of books just to be sure though…
I posted about marmalade today as well – oranges are defo on the go!
I think summer brings out the jam in us…and marmalade too. I love mandarins – out of hand, in curds but have never tried them in a jam. Would be delish on some Greek yogurt (I prefer Turkish, sorry!), with flaked almonds!
Hi! My name is steph and I found your through foodgawker… I’m hosting a jam exchange and thought you might be interested
http://stephchows.blogspot.com/2010/07/2nd-annual-jam-exchange.html
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