i’m tired.
strawberry jam and work have been my life for the last three weeks. the berries came early, i didn’t expect to start cooking jam until the end of june.
my first day was a bit of a let down. after mentally and physically navigating the kitchen space i am sharing, it was time to get down to work.
the berries, watery and not very sweet, were a bit of a challenge this year. smaller batches worked best, but with 1000 lbs as my target for zing, each pot already contained only 1% of my goal.the first 40 lbs I put in to pots came out flavorless and over-caramelized.
even after the berries improved this year’s strawberry jam came out much darker than previous years. the flavor is still pretty good. the strawberry with black pepper will be featured in the zingerman’s “culinary adventure club,” i’m very happy with the results and it’s an honor to be selected to participate in this club.
i don’t have any strawberry jam, plain or pepper, left to sell. it’s a pretty good problem to make as much as you can and have nothing left. probably not ideal for building a brand in other markets, but it is what it is.
raspberry and blueberry are next!
