Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
Dried fruits added to jams are an easy secret weapon -- flavor first, of course, but also added drama as evidenced here in fresh pear jam with slices of candied strawberry suspended in the golden goodness.
All it takes is fresh hachiya persimmons, a cool, dark place to hang them, and several weeks of patience and diligence, and you get hoshigaki, Japanese dried persimmons.
Why double? Wild Maine blueberries combined with dried blueberries give this jam deep flavor and a delightful interplay of wiggly sweet smoothness and chewy bits of fruit. And who does't love a name that requires explanation?
Starting with fresh, tannic hachiya persimmons, you peel and hang them, massaging them gently occasionally for several weeks. In the end, you get a dense, chewy dried fruit that is unlike any other. I just started my first batch.
