Jams and preserves: spring in a jar always with you

The cold winter weather is almost at an end. This year we will remember it because it has particularly affected the southern regions with very unusual periods, periods that in other years were already ideal for a quick trip to the beach with the annual inaugural swim. March and April are the last months in which plants bloom and then prepare for the production of fruit. Cherries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, lemons... they are all arriving! That’s why it’s time to stock up on the last jams and preserves from the previous year: products that still maintain the delightful taste and fragrance of the fruit. 

Spaghetti & Mandolino has always tried to offer a wide range of products in this sense, also searching for rare canned delicacies that are part of ancient recipes and century-old traditions from some of the most beautiful Italian villages. Classic, ancient, renewed, contemporary fruits. Authentic flavors and gourmet mixes that today go very well not only for breakfast, especially with increasingly fusion cuisine. 

Let’s start with the jams. First of all, remember that only citrus fruits can produce jams, while all other fruits produce preserves. We recommend the mandarin jam from Mongetto and the organic orange compote from Fontana BIO: an extraordinary concentration of fruit like you have never tasted before! There is also a version with ginger that makes it even more appealing. Multiforme Onlus is a wonderful service reality that helps people in difficulty, a reality that has decided to produce and have produced premium jams and preserves for those living in certain discomfort. A small laboratory, but with great technology, which allows maximizing the goodness of fresh fruit. Among their products, the orange jam Cuor di Frutta is a masterpiece. I also recommend the compote of orange peels and organic cinnamon from Fontana BIO. If you like the blood orange called Tarocco, from a strictly Catanese origin, we recommend the Tarocco orange jam from Cutrera. For lemon lovers, try the delicious Femminello lemon jam.

Preserves? We have them in all types and for all tastes. Furthermore, also for all kitchen uses. In particular, the preserves can be the simplest to use for a rich breakfast or more gourmet options, tied to pairing practices with cheeses or meats. For example, the classic fig preserve, produced by the company Il Mongetto, and the figs with honey and almonds preserve from Corrado Benedetti. I want to focus particularly on the preserves from the company Le Spiazzette in the province of Macerata, which, after the devastating earthquake that struck central Italy two years ago, is slowly rising again. This company is a reality that we wanted to integrate into our selection to help its rebirth, but especially because the quality of its products is extraordinary. A reality that works in the Sibillini Mountains and cultivates the sweet and aromatic pink apples, a rare Slow Food Presidio. We recommend all their preparations that will win you over with their fruit combinations and their fragrance and freshness. Like the pink apple compote from the Sibillini Mountains, their biodiversity preserve, and the delightful and intriguing pink apple compote with wild blackberries. 

How can we not mention the extraordinary morello cherries from Cantiano that we have strongly wanted on the portal! In particular, all the products from one of the best companies in that area, Corte Luceoli, which has once again achieved great success at the Taste fair of Italian excellence in Florence this year. Irresistible is their morello cherry and pear compote with ginger aroma.

Bernardo Pasquali 

S&M