Small spoiler: an apple of discord is not an apple at all
Surely back in your school years, you read the myth about the famous apple of discord, which the goddess of discord threw to the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They could not decide in any way who would get the coveted fruit, so the decision had to be made by Paris, the son of the Trojan king. By his decision, Aphrodite got the apple, because she promised him the love of the beautiful Helen, the wife of the Spartan king. But something lyrical digression dragged on ... what's the jam here?
You need to know what to wish for
So, that golden apple of discord, it turns out, was not an apple at all, but an exotic quince. In the mythology of Ancient Greece, it is the quince called the fruit of Aphrodite. Yes, the fruit is somewhat reminiscent of a mixture of apple and pear, but in its raw form it tastes not at all so pleasant.
The Greeks had to figure out how to make the quince delicious to eat. This is how the world's first jam appeared - melimēlon, which translates as “honey with fruit”. It turned out very simply: the quince was boiled with honey. The Romans spied on this idea (like many others) and decided to try this method with other fruits as well. So, even the recipe for jam of the fifth century has been preserved! He needed apples, plums, lemon juice and rose petals. But the Persians became the discoverers of the traditional jam for us - berries with sugar.
Traditions in Russia
Russian jam, however, differs from Western jams and confitures in that instead of wiping the berries, we cook them whole.
The most common jam in Russia was, of course, raspberry jam, which began to be made back in the 10th century.
And already in the 12th century, they began to try Russian jams from apples. It would seem that first cherry or plum jam should have appeared, but the first mentions of them appear only in the 15th century.
And the Russians got acquainted with strawberries even later: only in the 18th century.
The first sugar factory in Russia was opened in 180, so all the jams made before were made with honey. In general, sugar remained very expensive until the 20th century. And the jam on it, respectively, was also not a cheap delicacy. Farmers often made jam without sweeteners, for this they had to boil the berries in the oven for seven whole hours!
And why are we worse?
Today we do not need to be rich or have a Russian oven in order to make homemade jam. One of the most unusual in taste and combination is apple and mountain ash jam. It is both healthy and delicious!
To prepare it, you will need 1 kg of chokeberry; 0.7 kg of softer apples; 1 kg of sugar (less if you don't really like strong sweetness), half a kilogram of water and the juice of half a lemon.
Before you start cooking berries, they must be immersed in boiling water for literally two minutes. Next, a syrup must be formed from water and half of all the sugar, and then pour the berries into it (boiling), boil for five minutes and leave overnight. After that, the next day, pour the remaining sugar into the saucepan and wait for a boil. At this time, peel, slice and blanch the apples. Then add it to the berries in the syrup. Cook the whole mixture for ten minutes and then leave to cool completely. The final step is to cook the jam for another ten minutes. After that, you can roll up the banks!