Fruit – Why some fruits are less common for making jam

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Some fruits are more common to make jam from them (like peach in Hungary), but sometimes even widely available fruits are not common to make jams (like grape). What's the reason and what is it depends on?

Best Answer

The historical purpose of jam is to preserve fruit from a time of bounty to a time when it is less plentiful.

Therefore, to be a candidate for jam making, the fruit must be reasonably plentiful in the region where it would be preserved.

Technically, in order to form a jam or a jelly, there must be sufficient pectin and sufficient acid in the fruit to thicken it. In some regions, there are traditional combinations of high and low pectin fruits, in order to get a viable jam from the low pectin fruit.

Some fruits need acid, in the form of vinegar or lemon juice usually, added in order to help them gel; others need additional pectin. Canning Homemade has lists of high, medium, and low pectin fruits.

Other than this, it is down to the cultural preferences in a given region.