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Sunday, November 20, 2005

Etrog Jam

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I just spent the morning turning my etrog into jam. This is my second year doing this and I think it came out much better than the last time. I ended up with more jam and fewer solid bits left in it! I used a recipe I found on-line at CyberKitchen.com:
Posted by : Yitzy
Here is a recipe for making a jam from your Esrogim (citrons). It comes
from "The Heimishe Kitchen" cookbook.

Soak the Esrog for 1 week in water, changing the water daily.
Slice unpeeled Esrog very thinly, and remove seeds.
Boil in water, change water, and repeat twice more.

Add:
4 cups quince apples peeled and cut up
1 lemon thinly sliced
2 lbs sugar
water just enough to cover fruit
optionally add 5 or 6 whole cloves

Cook for about 2 hours until it becomes a clear syrup.
Store in a covered jar for a few weeks.
As an added bonus, you can let it "jellify" (or age) until Tu B'shvat,
where it becomes an unusual fruit marmalade to celebrate with.
The recipe works pretty well, but I recommend slicing the etrog and lemon almost paper thin to ensure than as much of the peel dissolves as possible.

2 comments:

Sophia said...

I've never heard of etrog. Boy do I have a lot to learn. When I was in college I got to experience a little bit of good Jewish cooking when I was friends with a girl named Lena. It was an interesting family! Lena was Jewish, her mom was Jewish, but her dad was athiest!

Someday I might have to find a way to try this jam. The contents sound good, if only I could know what an etrog is!

John W Leys said...

Stacey - an etrog is a middle eastern cirus fruit. They look like a large wrinkled lemon & taste a bit like a cross between a lemon and an orange. We use them during the rituals of the holiday of Sukkot (along with three branches known collectively as a lulav). Since they're used in a holy ritual its not proper to just dispose of them, so some--like myself--will use the etrog to make a jam, so that we are still putting it to use.

You can learn more about Sukkot @ http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm

The background image on this page is a Hebrew translation of the verse from Bob Dylan's song  It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), from which the title of this blog is taken. Translation courtesy of Yoram Aharon of Hod-HaSharon's page--found via YudelLine-- which has many Dylan lyrics in Hebrew.