Last year I spent an enchanting week cooking, making salumi and visiting cheese, balsamico, parmiggiano and prosciutto factories in Emilia Romagna. There we made a stunningly smart preserve from the “sabah” or grape must called “Savor” and I vowed to make a Romanian version. Traditionally the Italian version is eaten with a fresh soft cheese with an unpronounceable name “Squaquarone” (there, I did warn you!) but I think it is great with “Urda” (Romanian cheese) and also just spread on toast or scones by itself.

The method is simple and you end up with a sweet preserve with no added sugar – everything in your jar came from fruit. Brilliant! So smart with food, those Italians ;) Now unfortunately this recipe doesn’t have quantities so here is what we made and it worked well.

Ingredients for 8 small jars

1.5 litres of must (which is the grape juice before it turns into wine, also called must in Romanian)

1kg quince (gutui)

0. 5 kg apples (mere)

300g walnuts (nuci)

Thin strips of orange peel (optional)

How To

1. Boil the must until it is reduced by half

2. Chop the peeled fruit into small 1cm approx cubes

3. Add the fruit and boil gently until a jam like paste with no excess liquid

4. Add the nuts and make sure they are heated through

5. Bottle in heated sterilized jars

Traditionally this should keep as any other jam but to be sure you might want to keep in the refrigerator.

By Rachel Sargent, Guest Writer 

Rachel Sargent is the chef and owner of the London Street Bakery, which offers healthy seasonal food. More about it here.

(photo credits: Rachel Sargent)