There’s a lady near where we park our car in town who sells grapes and we’ve gotten to know her a bit over the weeks. Purple grapes are a specialty in Dodoma region (no idea where they grow them though – I haven’t seen a vineyard!). I always buy a few grapes from this mama as a way to support her business, but one time she gave me way more than I’d asked for. What was I to do with all these grapes? They’re full of seeds, so they’re not really easy to eat straight.

That’s when the idea for grape jam was born. Homemade jam is notoriously difficult to get right because you need the combo of acid, pectin and sugar. If you’re not using jam setter, lemon is recommended but passionfruit are easier to source for us and are also rich in pectin. It worked a charm! This jam is delicious and completely versatile. Use for sandwiches, tarts, slices, etc.

Grape jam

• 3 cups purple grapes, stems removed
• 10 passionfruit
• 3 cups sugar

1. Halve all passionfruit and strain the seeds so you are left with just a juice.
2. Place all grapes in a large saucepan on high heat and stir constantly. This will cause the grapes to ‘release’ their juice (kind of like sweating maybe?). After about 15 mins, the grapes should be shrivelled.
3. Strain out the grape pulp and seeds. Pour the juice back into the saucepan.
4. Add the passionfruit juice and the sugar.
5. Turn up the heat, then when it starts to boil, turn it down to a simmer. Simmer for a couple of hours. You should be able to see it thickening. Stir occasionally.

Categories: Uncategorized Written by Tamie

Tagged as: Cooking with Tamie expat life in Tanzania grape jam home made jam passionfruit

Tamie Davis

Tamie Davis is an Aussie living in Tanzania, writing at meetjesusatuni.com.