Product Description

Preserving is a centuries-old way to make the most out of every season, stretching the more bountiful months into the sparser ones - and what's more, it is fun, rewarding and easy to learn. Explaining the history, science and basic processes of preserving, Pam Corbin guides us through a world of jams, jellies, butters, curds, pickles, chutneys, cordials, liqueurs, vinegars and sauces that can be made from local produce throughout the year. She includes 75 recipes, covering everything from traditional favourites such as raspberry jam, lemon curd, quince cheese and sloe gin, to fresh new combinations such as apple butter, cucumber pickle and nettle pesto. The handbook includes seasonable tables, regional maps, flow charts of all the preserving processes and full-colour photographs throughout, and is completed by a directory of equipment and useful addresses. With a textured hard cover and an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Preserves is destined to join Mushrooms (Handbook No.1) as an indispensible household reference.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #286 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST RIVER COTTAGE HANDBOOK, MUSHROOMS: 'The best guide to gathering and eating wild mushrooms there has ever been' Independent

About the Author
Pam Corbin has been making preserves for as long as she can remember, and for more than twenty years her passion has been her business. Pam and her husband Hugh moved to Devon where they bought an old pig farm and converted it into a small jam factory. Always using good, wholesome, seasonal ingredients, their products, sold under the Thursday Cottage label, soon became firm favourites with jam-lovers the world over. Pam has now hung up her professional wooden spoon but continues to 'jam' at home. She also works closely with the River Cottage team, making seasonal goodies using fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers from her own garden, from Park Farm, and from the fields and hedgerows.

Customer Reviews

Pam the Jam
Hugh Fearney-Whittingstall hired Pam Corbin to organise River Cottage's Preserving Days, and she's done him proud with this handbook. She's fairly strongly pro-bottling, pickling and general jamming, and is keen to remind us that's just how life was, not very long ago. For her, preserving is not just a fun activity, it's a way of using up seasonal gluts and honoring the ebb and flow of the vegetable world.

She's meticulous on health and safety in a modern up-to-date way, and there's some really useful stuff I've never seen before, like sterilising, filling and sealing tables - chutneys are treated slightly differently than marmalades etc, which makes you feel in incredibly safe hands. And three different tests for setting! Encyclopedic!

Of course the real test is the recipes, which others have already recommended. I like the fact that each one is on its own page, that the design is beautiful, and that there's lots of illustrations to tempt me. I also like the seasonal advice that tells you when to make a particular preserve.

Also, Pam suggests tempting useful variations to each (Whiskey marmalade; indian spices like fenugreek in the rhubarb relish; pickled crab apples instead of pears).

Things I was delighted to know how to make: passata; harissa; quince jelly (for manchego); italian figs in mustard sauce.

Things I am amazed to know how to make: hawthorn ketchup; compost heap jelly; nasturtium capers; fruit "leather".

Honestly, buy it, have a go, it's such good fun.

Heading towards self sufficiency
A comprehensive guide to preserves, cordials and all manner of edible items to put away for another day. Wide ranging recipes with hints and tips for success, additions and improvements.

Gooseberry Jam with Elderflower
Harissa Paste
Saucy Haw Ketchup
Runner Bean Pickle

It's had me out scouring the hedgerows already and will get plenty of use. Beautiful photos, clearly laid out. Includes details on suppliers and other interesting organisations.

Inspiring and wonderful!
I've been wanting to make preserves for years, but I've only just started to do it. Loving the whole River Cottage ethos, I was naturally interested in this book. I read some great reviews and so I bought it, and IMO it's just as wonderful as others said it was.

There's a wealth of inspiring recipes, many of which come with suggestions for modifications which can be made by those who have different ingredients/would like to use something slightly different. Everything is clearly explained, and the photographs just make me want to go down to the kitchen and eat up every last preserve in the fridge!

This book is an absolute inspiration. I'd defy anyone even very slightly interested in making their own jams, chutneys, pickles etc not to want to dash straight out to the shops/the garden/the local nature reserves, pick things and get bottling, after reading it. I've already spent 3 happy evenings on the couch by the fire, listening to the rain beating at the windows, reading and re-reading the recipes and making plans for a whole pantry full of lovely things to see me through the winter.

Very highly recommended.