Apricot Jam

Ingredients

1 kg. apricots (with stones)

600g. sugar

2 tbsps. lemon juice

Apricot jam is one of my mum’s specialty jams! We love it and I thought of making it here. I phoned her the other day and she said unless you use the right type of apricots you wont get the nice smooth jam. The apricots are called “Emm Hussein” in Arabic (literally translated as the mother of Hussein…!). There is no way I could just go in a random grocery place and claim that I am looking for Emm Hussein apricots! All what they write here is: Aprikosen (or apricots). I was once in a grocery place and I saw some apricots that looked so much like the ones mum uses… So I got a kilo of those and they were indeed the ones needed for apricot jam (see photo below). They should be small, sort of orangy-red, you should be able to split them without them sticking to the stone and most importantly they should not be very stringy, otherwise your jam won’t turn out smooth.

The stones of the apricots do not weigh much at all. Of the kilo that I got, the stones weighed only 50g.! I thought they would weigh much more… but not at all!

This recipe runs in the family; my grandmother, mum and aunts all do it. You could do less sugar if you like, but the jam will turn out sourer, you can add chunks of apricots at the end of the cooking, if you like it chunkier. We like it smooth and not super sour so I have done the exact same way my mum cooks it.

Start by cleaning the apricots, drain and stone them. Do not peel, the apricot skin is super thin and will sort of melt when cooked. Place them in a big bowl and add the sugar. Mix well, then leave them aside for at least 8 hours so most of the sugar is dissolved. This is a trick to keep their vibrant orangy colour even after cooking them.

Place them in a big stainless-steel saucepan and add the lemon juice. I think the next time I might use only one tablespoon instead of 2. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. This process has taken almost 10 minutes. Then lower heat to medium high (mark 6) and skim most of the foam that will form on top. I have used a sieve and a bowl. I have let the foam to rest then re-added the syrup from the bottom of the bowl to the saucepan. Cook for 30 minutes stirring continuously and mashing it using a potato masher every now and then, until jam has thickened. You can feel it when it’s ready: when you stir with the spoon and there is sort of a line that forms behind the spoon and you could see the bottom of the saucepan. You could as well spoon a little bit on a saucer and let it cool. If you’re happy with its consistency, then turn off heat. Let the jam cool for 5 minutes or so then pour in sterilized jars (see Strawberry Jam to know how to sterilize jars).

Enjoy it on a nice piece of buttered bread or cracker!