In month of July we see increase the fruit varieties available, enriched by those typical varieties of hot spring, such as apricots, peaches and plums that persist. There are also berries, from blueberry to raspberry through strawberry, some exotic fruits to which the fruit already present throughout the year is added.
Excluding, however, the exotic fruit that requires waste of resources for import and the fruit that we find good or bad all year round such as apples, pears and kiwis, let's try to put our magnifying glass on two local and seasonal specialties.
Instead of the classic cherry we will focus on the sour cherry, Prunus cerasus, acid cousin of the common cherry, and finally on the snack, a rare and valuable variety of fishing smooth (like pescanoce) typical of the Ionian side of Calabria.
We will study two jam recipes to be prepared in July and to be enjoyed all year round. Finally we will try to take a look at the possibility of preparing one vegan tart.
Snack fishing jam
Until a few years ago, few had heard of it: the peach merendella, small cut, with a light green skin, rarely spotted with red, smooth, firm and with an unmistakable sweet taste, is a delicacy all over the country, Calabrian to be precise.
They will serve a kilogram of peaches that we will wash, pitted and cut into pieces. If of biological origin we will use them with all the peel. Once you put it all in a pot together with the juice of two lemons and a cup of water, we will let it all go to low heat.
When our peaches start to melt, we will add 400 grams of sugar and a peeled apple, which will help gel without changing the flavor.
Continue cooking, turning everything constantly and finally pour into sterile jars that we will close and store in the dark upside down.
Read also Summer fruit >>
Black cherry jam
Black cherries, a variety of sour cherry together with sour cherries and morello cherries, they are not only good for ice creams and syrups to garnish, but also excellent for jams, especially to be consumed in the morning with a nice slice of dark bread, rich in bran.
From April to July these fruits are often left on garden trees. For a good black cherry jam you don't need much, if not the patience to go and collect them (after all, a pleasure), wash them, remove the petioles and stones.
using 800 grams of sugar for every kilo of black cherries, we will put everything in a saucepan to cook over low heat for about half an hour, giving our fruit time to condense.
to increase the sweet-sour contrast, you can add a vanilla bean. Finally, pour into sterile jars as mentioned for the merendella jam.
Vegan tart
Both the sweet peach jam merendella and the sour cherry jam are excellent on desserts: one of the most classic is undoubtedly the pie. Species from late autumn to early spring. We will propose an all vegan, light meal and skeptical-proof, that is pleasantly tasty.
Ingredients
> White flour;
> wholemeal flour;
> sale;
> sugar;
> olive oil;
> orange juice.
Preparation
Mix all the solid ingredients in a bowl: a cup of white flour and a cup of wholemeal flour), half a tablespoon of salt, two tablespoons of sugar (of the type you prefer).
We will then add half a cup of oil and two tablespoons of orange juice (replaceable with soy milk).
Mix everything thoroughly and once it has a homogeneous consistency we will cook for 10 minutes about 450 degrees in a tart pan, spreading it out so that it has a suitable edge to hold our snack or black cherry tarts.
