After many years of sulking through late August, like a kid on a late Sunday afternoon with un-done homework that’s due in the morning, I’ve found a real solace in the slow end of summer: preserves. At home, growing up, we had a cold storage room in the basement, full of preserved summer fruits and vegetables that I actually thought of as ‘poor food’. We had to can food like this because we couldn’t afford McDonald’s, I thought. My mother would make spaghetti sauce in February with tomatoes we’d canned ourselves, and I’d wish we were having canned ravioli instead.
As an adult I learned that there were people who had Mason jars in their homes, and people who did not. All of my friends are the sort who do, and I now truly appreciate what a luxury it was to be able to help myself to a jar of perfectly ripe Bartlett pears, in the dead of winter, without even having to ask permission. We lived with an abundance that seemed practically inexhaustible.
Today we’re filling little half-cup jars of blueberry chutney for friends. The chutney is an exquisite study of dark flavours – wild blueberry, smoky black cardamom, chocolaty açai, and toasty black cumin, all brilliantly highlighted by ginger, mace, and lemon.
It’s a fragrant chutney that’s really made for poultry and game – winter meats like turkey, duck, venison, bison, or caribou. Of course we’re still months away from eating those things, but that’s the glorious thing about these little time capsules full of lush, late summer. They keep until you really need them.
ginger snaps with smoked duck, old cheddar, and blueberry chutney
blueberry chutney with açai and garam masala
2 C packed brown sugar
¼ C sherry vinegar
¼ C balsamic vinegar
4 C wild blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 C finely chopped white onion
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 tsp. finely grated ginger
1/3 C unsweetened açai juice (you can also use paste or a spoonful of powder)
2 tbsp. garam masala
Look for the tiniest wild blueberries you can find at your local farmer’s market. They have a denser flavour than the cultivated berries, and will make a firmer chutney because they have a lower water content.
Cook the sugar and vinegars in a large stainless pot over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Add everything else and reduce to a low simmer.
Cook 45 minutes, uncovered, stirring from time to time to blend the flavours. It will be very liquid when it’s hot, but will firm up quite a bit once it’s refrigerated.
This makes a great pan sauce for seared meats, with a shot of balsamic or red wine to deglaze.
Makes 4 cups.
garam masala
(according to my kind neighbour, Krishanu Dasgupta)
1 pt. cardamom (green, with husks)
1 pt. whole cloves
½ pt. black cardamom seeds (husks removed)
1 pt. Indian cinnamon (broken sticks)
2 pts. black peppercorns
1 pt. black cumin
½ pt. whole nutmeg
1 pt. whole mace
Grind all spices to a fine powder.
Love the memory this receipe brought back. Very touching.
I love this post! My mom used to buy huge batches of delicious in-season blueberries at the Jean Talon market to freeze for the winter. She would ‘de-twig’ them for hours (as she called it)and her fingers would be purple for days. All winter long we’d have the best blueberry pancakes and pies.
*they freeze well for baking, but you do have to stem them first (impossible once thawed), also it’s best to put them in ziploc bags in small quantities because you shouldn’t refreeze them.
David, I blanched peaches this week and had a complete Proustian involuntary Mason-Jar-at-the-end-of-summer memory. This chutney looks and sounds luscious. Nice work, you two.
Wow – this sounds so interesting.
Amazing flavor combo. I always thought preserving fresh food was ‘poor’ too. So funny how we have those misperceptions as kids.