Tomato Jam: A Love Story

Once upon a time, all throughout the land, people made tomato jam.  In heavy pots, chunks of tomatoes would simmer in sugar and spices until they were cooked down into garnet-colored jam.  The evocative scent of cinnamon, clove and garlic would linger in the kitchen long after the jam was carefully sealed into little glass jars. 

Then one day, Mr. Heinz began to mass-produce tomato jam.  Conveyor belts pushed out bottle after bottle.  As the years passed, the quality of the product declined.  Instead of a sticky, spicy jam, the bottles held a disgusting, pasty sauce. People began to forget about making their own tomato jam.  As their lives became more hectic, they became more apathetic and willing to eat the horrific stuff we call ketchup.*

But this story isn't over, Friends.  We can take back the joy of real tomato jam and stop eating ketchup!**

* I'm pretty sure none of this is true.

**This part is true.

Saturday, Matthew came in from the garden with a bowl full of tomatoes.  Their cracked sides showed the wear and tear of our relentlessly hot summer.  I didn't want them to go to waste, so I pulled out two recipes for tomato jam I've been eyeing for almost a year.  It was incredibly easy.  The only difficult parts are 1. stirring it regularly and 2. not eating it all right away. 

I've mentioned before that I loath ketchup.  Well, I at least feel about ketchup the way I feel about the common cold: I wonder at it's very existence and purpose.  Not surprisingly, tomato jam tastes similarly to ketchup (tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices sound familiar?).  But I delight in the richness of it, the surprise of the cinnamon and clove, and the sheer stickiness of it.  So far, I haven't stopped subjecting my food to its influence.  Very much the way my little sister used to add ketchup to everything.

I've spread it on toast and topped it with a fried egg and shaved Parmesan.  I stirred it into a little mayonnaise and put it on my roast beef sandwich.  And I put it where it most deserves to be: on a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon.  Really.  It's amazing.

Luisa at The Wednesday Chef posted recipes for both Mark Bittman's Tomato Jam and Niloufer Ichaporia King's Parsi Tomato Chutney.  I adapted them to fit what I had on hand already and it did not chutney - it jammed.  If you try either of the original recipes in their unadulterated form, please let me know how it turns out!  In the meantime, I'm pretty pleased with my results.

Tomato Jam
adapted by me from the recipes above; makes 1/2 pint of jam

1 1/2 lb tomatoes (something with a thin skin will work better than thick-skinned tomato)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon powdered ginger (or be greater than I, and use a tablespoon of fresh!)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon salt
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup cider vinegar

Combine all the ingredients in a Dutch oven or heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat stirring regularly until it has the consistency of jam (that was 45 minutes for me).  Enjoy with everything.