![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens06.jpg\")
\nPeta King-De Wet<\/p>\n
It is most commonly known as a thick spread enjoyed on toast or scones, but you haven\u2019t had proper jam until you\u2019ve tried a home-made batch cooked with love, care and years of experience. Get It chats to three of the Lowveld\u2019s jam fundis to find out their secrets and how to get the most out of this sweet, sticky preserve.<\/p>\n
There is an Afrikaans idiom that says, \u201cso \u2018n bek moet j\u00eam kry\u201d. It translates to \u201ca mouth like that should get jam\u201d, but the English saying \u201cgive that man a Bells\u201d describes it more accurately. It is used in situations when you agree with someone; a type of reward (sweet or alcoholic) for like-mindedness.<\/p>\n
\nPeta King-De Wet<\/p>\n
Jam and whisky might not seem like a good comparison, but for the preserve connoisseur, Peta King-De Wet, it most certainly is. Peta makes jams, marmalades, sauces and syrups under the brand Blue Pomegranate, and one of her more popular creations is a three-citrus marmalade with whisky. \u201cMy dad passed away 10 years ago. He loved my home-made marmalade as well as J&B. I thought I would play around with the combo as an ode to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peta has been making jam commercially for a year on their farm outside Mbombela, but her experience stretches back more than 10 years. Her dream has been to own a little deli called the Blue Pomegranate. When she closed her events business it was time to bite the bullet. \u201cI think jam-making is in my DNA. My mom couldn\u2019t cook to save her life, but my father was a chef and I grew up in a hotel,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
Food wasn\u2019t a burning ambition at first. \u201cBut one day I bought a marmalade. It tasted like a jelly with an artificial flavour, and I thought… I want the real deal,\u201d Peta grins. She hauled out one of her dad\u2019s cookbooks and quickly realised she had talent. \u201cI imagine what something should taste like and then I cook it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peta makes a wide variety of products and is expanding every day. \u201cI have from hot and spicy to sweet and sexy; and everything in-between,\u201d she laughs. The Blue Pomegranate range consists of two marmalades, both made with three citruses, and whisky is added to the one. She makes a blueberry jam and syrup, candied stemmed ginger, chutney, sweet chilli sauce (which started off as a tomato and chilli jam), a condensed milk-based mustard, a wholegrain mustard and sriracha sauce (she calls her chilli and garlic creation \u201cceracha\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u201cMy jams always change, because I keep it seasonal. I also try to source everything locally.\u201d Peta doesn\u2019t dilute her products with water and she plays around with the jams\u2019 flavours. \u201cI made a pawpaw and pineapple jam which sold out at a recent market. The one lady walked away with my sample jar,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
She has also made a roasted peach and vanilla jam, which one customer describes as \u201cpudding in a jar\u201d, but 56 medium-sized peaches only produce four little bottles. \u201cIt isn\u2019t necessarily a money-spinner,\u201d she admits. The same goes for her pineapple jam; six queen pineapples produce three bottles. \u201cWe are actually in the process of growing our own produce. We have all this space here on our farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
The secret to Peta\u2019s treats are in the ratios, otherwise the jams won\u2019t set. \u201cYou also have to make sure your fruit is fresh.\u201d She doesn\u2019t add pectin to her jams or marmalades and says if the fruit is in season, the naturally occurring pectin will thicken the product. \u201cI\u2019ve experienced this with blueberries. If I buy them out of season, it just won\u2019t set.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of Peta\u2019s jams and marmalades average at R50 a bottle and she sells them at markets, relies on word of mouth and secures orders thanks to the contact details on her jars. She enjoys markets so much, she decided to start her own – The Market at Runway Zero4 – hosted at the Nelspruit Airfield on the Kaapsehoop Road. \u201cWe have an excess of 60 local traders. I\u2019m on a mission to promote what is available in the Lowveld!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have forgotten how to savour the moment. We sit down and scoff our dinner. But you have to taste your food. It is all about the flavour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Details <\/em> Elsa and Graeme Swart from Olive Valley Farm Products recall the jam they were given at boarding school in Zimbabwe; those bulk cans of mixed fruit with an artificial red colour. They both shudder at the thought.<\/p>\n There is simply no comparison when tasting Elsa\u2019s three different marmalades: lime; orange and lemon; as well as grapefruit, lemon and lime. She also makes atchar, a chilli sauce and macadamia rusks from the macs grown on their farm in the De Kaap Valley.<\/p>\n Elsa makes the jams and rusks with her right-hand man, William Chimanyu, and her husband, Graeme, assists with marketing. \u201cWhen my family lived in Zimbabwe, they baked and made loads of jams. My mom did it for a living,\u201d Elsa explains. They have known William since they moved to Botswana in 2000, as he worked for friends and relatives.<\/p>\n He also works as a caretaker for Graeme\u2019s 86-year-old father, a job he excels at due to his extreme patience and kindness. \u201cOn top of that, he saves me from having to cut up the fruit for the marmalade,\u201d Graeme jokes.<\/p>\n All the citrus used for the marmalades is grown in the De Kaap Valley. \u201cI don\u2019t add preservatives, because it is home-made and healthier. I also do small quantities at a time; I think it\u2019s about the love of using the fruit more so than making a profit,\u201d Elsa says.<\/p>\n They have been making jam on the farm for the past two to three years. She doesn\u2019t sell her chili sauce and atchar, but her marmalades go for R30 a bottle.<\/p>\n \u201cThe kind of fruit you use is very important. It can\u2019t be overripe and\/or too green,\u201d Elsa elaborates.<\/p>\n The fruit has to be perfect for the pectin to work its magic. \u201cMarmalade is completely underrated. Don\u2019t just think of it as something for toast,\u201d she advises her customers.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can use it in your cooking as well – marmalade chicken is delicious!\u201d Elsa suggests it in pork dishes, as well as with bread and butter pudding.<\/p>\n Olive Valley Farm Products are mostly sold at the markets held in Kaapsehoop, and the team relies on word of mouth. You can find smaller jars of the lime preserve stocked at the shop and restaurant Miz Gooz Berry, also in Kaapsehoop.<\/p>\n \u201cWe find it very difficult to supply to big chain stores. We were growing vegetables to sell as well, but they prefer to get stock from supply chains,\u201d Graeme explains.<\/p>\n He adds that he finds selling at markets tough, because you might have to interact with a client who thinks your product is too bitter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be difficult and disheartening when you\u2019re not pleasing everyone,\u201d he elaborates. Graeme has now learnt to accept that people\u2019s tastes differ. \u201cI\u2019m old school. I like something bitter, opposed to a strawberry and apricot jam which is sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n Details <\/em> Helen Maddison on the other hand prefers the sweet stuff; she makes fig preserve, raspberry jam and lemon curd for her brand Old Cape. \u201cI\u2019ve made fig preserve for my family for more than 50 years,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we moved to our farm in Waterval Onder in 1988, my son told me that I make the best fig preserve and I should open a fig factory,\u201d Helen explains. Unfortunately her son passed away at the age of 36.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided that in memory of him, I should finally open that factory.\u201d She raided her sisters\u2019 trees for cuttings and planted figs on the farm. \u201cOur surname is Maddison – with two ds – doubly mad we always say. We lived in the madhouse and we called the farm Around The Bend,\u201d she shares smiling. Today the property is known as Zongororo Guest Farm.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is where I started planting the figs and later we moved with the trees. Luckily the plants are pretty hardy; some of them died, but most survived. Now we have a farmer in the Schoemanskloof Valley who has 350 trees. We gave him our plants for next to nothing and we buy the whole crop from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Helen has been making Old Cape products for the past four to five years and enjoys the process, but it is crucial for her to make a profit. She and her husband don\u2019t have a huge pension, or a medical aid.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learnt how to make raspberry jam by visiting my mother-in-law who lived in England.\u201d She recalls annual trips in the \u201890s; they visited farms where you can pick your own raspberries and strawberries. \u201cI interrogated all the farmers to find out who grew the best fruit. I asked them what they did and how they did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Helen made about 100 bottles of jam, which her mother-in-law gave away to friends throughout the year. She would make 12 bottles for herself, place them in her luggage and bring them back home.<\/p>\n She started looking for fruit here in South Africa. \u201cA friend of mine had a nursery and she had raspberries which were acclimatised to this area,\u201d she explains. \u201cTo grow figs and raspberries around Mbombela is not a done thing. But nobody told me that, so I just did it,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Her secret to a great jam is the quality of the fruit. \u201cAnd, don\u2019t overcook it. I cook my raspberry jam for five minutes, then you still have that fresh taste,\u201d she adds. \u201cAll the recipe books say boil it for 20 minutes… but that means bye-bye flavour!\u201d<\/p>\n The Old Cape fig preserve is stocked at Steiltes and The Grove SPARs, and Crossing SPAR sells the fig preserve as well as the raspberry jam. \u201cWe used to sell at the market in Kaapsehoop. It costs R50 for the jam or lemon curd, and R70 for the preserve.\u201d Customers have urged her to export her figs. They rave about the fact that it simply is the best they have ever tasted.<\/p>\n \u201cOur customers have told us wonderful things about our products. Have you ever tried a toasted cheese sandwich with fig preserve?\u201d Another customer does a roasted fillet with blue cheese or Camembert and adds the figs on top. It is also lovely with pork chops.<\/p>\n Helen says many people don\u2019t know much about lemon curd. \u201cSome mix it with vanilla ice cream. Someone else adds it to cream for a pavlova,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnother customer – a rugby fanatic – says no man, you just sommer take a spoon and eat it while watching sport,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n One thing is evident… curds, jams and marmalade belong on a whole lot more than just your morning toast.<\/p>\n Details<\/em> Text and photographer: MIA LOUW<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is most commonly known as a thick spread enjoyed on toast or scones, but you haven\u2019t had proper jam until you\u2019ve tried a home-made batch cooked with love, care and years of experience. Get It chats to three of the Lowveld\u2019s jam fundis to find out their secrets and how to get the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":1987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[738,40],"tags":[222,218,219,220,221,146,73],"class_list":{"0":"post-1985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food-wine","8":"category-people","9":"tag-foodies","10":"tag-jamqueens","11":"tag-jams","12":"tag-marmalades","13":"tag-preserves","14":"tag-supportlocal","15":"tag-getitlowveld"},"yoast_head":"\n
\nPeta King-De Wet on 082-331-0712<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens03.jpg\")
\nWilliam Chimanyu with Elsa and Graeme Swart<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nElsa Swart on 079-453-3389<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens11.jpg\")
\nHelen Maddison<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/lowveld\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/08\/Jam-Queens13.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nHelen Maddison on 072-212-2605<\/em><\/p>\n