Hello world! The past weeks haven’t been the happiest, too many, way too many sad things are happening in London and around the world and sometimes it’s just hard… My favourite way to take my mind off sad things is to cook with music in the background. It’s honestly the best way to meditate and I think, any cook will agree. It somehow makes me stop thinking about the rest of the world and enables me to focus on one thing only: cooking.

Soooo a few weeks ago, before the heat wave that we are currently experiencing in London happened, I decided to empty my mind with a new challenge: making jam! I was a bit nervous when I started researching it because I realised there were many (many) different methods, and I didn’t know which one was the best. My first experiment was strawberry, because of #britishstrawberryseason, obviously! My second experiment is something that I’ve had in the back of my mind for a very long time: lemon and preserved lemon jam, or lemon jam with preserved lemon, if you prefer, I’ll let you decide. It tastes like caramelised lemons that would have spent some time in the Middle East or North Africa. Very lemony, pretty tangy and sweet but also aromatic! J u s t p e r f e c t !

Making jam is honestly the easiest thing to do, you can make huge quantities easily, give them to your friends and family or just store them in your fridge for months. This lemon jam with preserved lemon quickly became my newest obsession, I’ve had it with baghrir, bagel + cream cheese, vanilla ice cream and I used it in a pistachio and blueberry galette. I just can’t stop!

Lemon Jam with Preserved Lemon

Makes about 500g

INGREDIENTS

500g lemons (about 5 lemons)
500ml water
350g caster sugar
3 small preserved lemons (30g each), finely chopped

METHOD

• Cut 0,5cm off from the ends of the lemons and cut them into wedges. Thinly slice each lemon wedge to make small triangles. Transfer the lemon pieces and the water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes until the lemon pieces are soft and cooked through. If too much of the water evaporates and the content of the saucepan looks dry, add about half a cup of water into the saucepan.

• Stir in the sugar and preserved lemon and let simmer, uncovered, on medium-low heat stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to thicken and all the liquids evaporate, about 40 to 45 minutes. Pour the jam into a jar and place it in the fridge once cooled.