Eric's mango-maracuya jam

Ingredients:

• 12 passionfruits (maracuyas)
• 2 cups of ripe mango slices
• 9 large Persian limes
• 2 quarts of water
• about 4 cups of sugar

Directions:

• Cut the passionfruit in halves and scoop out the seeds and orange seed pulp, reserving the latter in a bowl for later use
• Put the passionfruit halves in a pot with the water, bring to a rapid boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes
• Turn off the heat and cool the boiled passionfruit halves and the water they are in at until they get down to about room temperature
• Reserve 1 1/4 cups of the liquid in which the passionfruits were boiled for later use
• Scoop out the white pulp from passionfruit halves, discarding the outer skins, then dicing the pulp and extracting and discarding any galls or fibrous lumps
• Combine the orange seeds and seed pulp and 1/4 cup of the water used to boil the passionfruit halves in a large jar with a cover, screw on the lid and shake vigorously for a minute or two, straining out the liquid and discarding the solids
• In a bowl or cup, combine the strained juice of three limes and the liquid obtained from shaking the seeds and seed pulp with the boiling water, reserving this liquid for later use
• In a large pot combine the passionfruit chunks, one cup of the water used to boil the passionfruit halves, the mango slices and the strained juice from the remaining six limes, then cover the pot
• Slowly bring the contents of the pot to a simmer, stirring frequently, simmer the mixture until the mango slices dissolve and it becomes a lumpy orange liquid, then turn off the heat and let it cool down to about room temperature
• Measure this liquid, put it back into the pot, put it uncovered on a burner at low heat and stir in 3/4 cup of sugar for each cup of the liquid
• Continue on low heat, stirring frequently and keeping the heat low enough so the mixture does not come to a boil, until all the sugar is dissolve
• Once the sugar has been dissolved, stir once more then turn up the heat until high
• Boil the mixture --- WITHOUT STIRRING IT --- until it reaches the setting point, using candy thermometer frequently to determine the precise moment when it reaches the required temperature
• Immediately turn off the heat, stir in the reserved seed pulp, water and lime juice liquid --- WITHOUT SCRAPING ANYTHING THAT MAY HAVE STUCK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POT BACK INTO THE MIXTURE --- and let stand for 10 minutes
• Skimming off any froth from the top and avoiding anything stuck to the bottom of the pot, ladle the jam into sterile jars with sterile mason jar lids, leaving a half-inch of space between the top of the liquid and the rims of the jars, put the lids on and process the jars in a pressure cooker or pot of boiling water.
• Allow the jars to cool to room temperature, then test their seals. Repeat the canning and processing steps with any jars that are not hermetically sealed.

This jam goes well in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, of course. For the true Panagringo hippie usage, however, mix some of this with plain yogurt and unsalted roasted cashew nuts. Or if you want to adopt a culinary culture as befits The Crossroads of the World, stir three tablespoons of this jam up with a teaspoon of vinegar, put it in a little bowl, spoon a teaspoon of hot Chinese mustard on top to one side of the bowl, and you have a very good eggroll or fried wonton dip.

dining

Eric's mango-passionfruit jam