Well, it looks like Autumn is here already. I picked a handful of horse mushrooms the other day on the way home from playing tennis and the hedgerows alongside the disused railway, now the Downs Link path, are heaving with sloes and damsons. This can only mean one thing for a keen cook – time to start making preserves. So far I’ve been given green walnuts (currently soaking in brine and causing more than a little anxiety and much email discussion with my Californian pickling guru), green tomatoes, pears, victoria plums and sour plums, all the result of gluts in the gardens of friends. It has been a chutney marathon and I was beginning to wonder if I’d smell of anything other than vinegar ever again! The shelves are now groaning with Green Tomato Chutney, Mixed Tomato Chutney, Mango and Apple Chutney, Autumn Fruit (pears, plums, apples, tomatoes) Chutney and a Spiced Sour Plum Chutney. The latter I fear may be one of my rare (but usually spectacular) culinary disasters as I left it bubbling away whilst I played 5 sets of tennis, the result being a tad caramelised to say the least!
A Sunday walk with my father yielded enough sloes to experiment with an un-sugared sloe gin and a load of plump, juicy damsons, with which I made a batch of Damson Cheese. I am ludicrously proud of this foray into so-called fruit ‘cheeses’ and I would urge anyone to try the recipe. For those who have never heard the term, a fruit ‘cheese’ is like a firm jelly that can be cut into slices and served with cheeses (real ones!) and cold cuts. The most common example is the quince version called ‘Membrillo’ in Spain and served with Manchego cheese, but damsons make a really unusual and quite delicious alternative. I’ve been testing to see which cheeses go best with the damson and so far I like it with the sharp, almost gamey flavours of Lincolnshire Poacher and Cantal. It helps if the cheese in question is a strong one, I suspect blue cheeses might work well too. I’ve added the recipe below. It is adapted from an old Marguerite Patten recipe, hence the Imperial measures. I made a smaller quantity than the original recipe because it doesn’t keep for a long time. Do try it, the hedgerows are bursting with fat damsons this year and nothing beats foraged food!
DAMSON CHEESE
1.5 lb Damsons / 1/4 Pint Water / Butter and Caster Sugar (see method for quantities)
Put the fruit into a preserving pan with the water, cover tightly and cook slowly until you have a thick pulp. Keep checking to make sure it doesn’t dry out and stick to the pan, if it does, add a tiny bit more water, but try and keep the pulp as thick as possible. Rub the fruit through a sieve (apparently nylon is better as metal can taint the fruit but I used a metal one and the results were fine) and measure the pulp.
For each pint of fruit pulp, allow 1 ounce of unsalted butter and 1lb caster sugar
Put the pulp in the preserving pan and heat gently over a low heat whilst stirring. Add the butter and sugar and stir until they have dissolved. Raise the heat and boil steadily until setting point.
Testing for Setting Point
Take a spoonful of the damson mixture and put it on a cold plate, wait for a bit (you don’t want to burn yourself!) and push your finger through it. If it wrinkles up, the damson cheese has reached setting point. It sounds horribly inexact and I was concerned that I’d get it wrong but it does actually work. Spoon into hot containers (I pour a little boiling water in and swill around to warm and sterilise them) and seal. For my batch I used lock and lock tupperware style containers rather than jam jars. Store the damson cheese in the fridge and serve with strong cheeses or cold meats.
Kitchen & Cellar 