Jelly or Jam?

Strawberry season is in full swing at the markets. The vendors from Virginia to Pennsylvania all had berries last week, although there’s still a mad dash at market’s opening with a crowd making a bee line from the parking lot to the berry vendors.

I was surprised at how many patrons were purchasing full flats of strawberries and questioned one, “Are you making a batch of jelly?”

“No, I’m making jam,” they replied. The tone of their voice insinuated a faux pas on my part and I suppressed the urge to say, excuuuuuse me in the voice of the late, great John Belushi’s vintage SNL skits.

When did jelly versus jam become a Walmart versus Whole Foods competition? Jelly has always had the leading role in foodstuffs. We’ve got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, jellyrolls, jelly cakes, jellybeans, and when you go to buy the cute little jars in which to put the amalgamation of cooked fruit, sugar, and pectin into, you purchase jelly jars.

So what’s the difference?

Both are made from fruit. Both contain sugar. Both have pectin or gelatin to thicken the final product. But jelly is made with only fruit juice while jam has the whole fruit.

Jellies and jams have been documented since the 4th century but have been around since humans began preserving foods in the Paleolithic period helping to insure their survival during lean times. Throughout the millennia there have been chutneys, butters, conserves, curds, and marmalades, as well.

Our military took the concept of fruit preservation a step further than Napoleon Bonaparte’s invention of canning fruit and other foods to feed troops on the move. Preserved jelly was first commercialized in the early 20th century when  Welch's created a product that could be  used in WWI rations that wouldn’t spoil. Yes, jelly does not need to be refrigerated. With the success of the military rations, Welch’s launched their retail grape jelly to the public in 1923.

In both jellies and jams sugar is the preservative, but pectin or gelatin is the thickening agent. Pectin is a carbohydrate derived from fruits, mainly from the the rinds of citrus fruits and apple skins leftover from juice production. Pectin forms a mesh that traps liquid, sets as it cools, and, in the case of jam, cradles suspended pieces of fruit. Pectin needs acid and sugar to properly set up a gel in fruit. It can also be overcooked and broken down. That’s why you add it at the end of cooking the fruit. Pectin can also be finicky so don’t mess with the proportions of fruit, sugar, acid, and pectin or it may not set up into a thick jam.

Gelatin is made from the skin, bones, tendons, and cartilage of animals, mainly cows and pigs, so no—it’s not vegan. There are kosher and halal gelatins widely available. Just read the labels. At the Smithsonian Folk Festival I saw a banjo maker shaving down a hide to make the head of an instrument. He was saving all the shavings for his wife to make gelatin as that’s how it was done back in the day. Anyone making their own bone broth these days knows that lots of good bones will set up their broth into a solid. Unlike pectin, gelatin does not need acid or sugar to properly solidify and does not break down when cooked. Also, both gelatin and pectin are flavorless.

Strawberry season kicks off the annual fruit fest jelly and jam making for those who want to have the flavors of spring and summer throughout the year. Give it a try.