Jams for the Breakfast of God Bacchus

We may soon need a sommelier to help us to choose not only the wine to accompany the meal, but also to find the perfect jam for a cheese appetizer. Now it is possible to find in deli shops a variety of jellies and jams with seductive textures made with quality wine and craft beers.

We review some proposals that really reflect the wine or spirits they contain, such as the artisanal jams made by the brand Cucumi which uses excellent and quality certified wines and craft beer. God Bacchus would have loved to have breakfast with them! But he would have missed the ethyl fumes, since the jam cooking process evaporates all the alcohol.

«We decided to make jams with varietal wines so that consumers can better appreciate the qualities of each type of grape, and we have selected the most significant varieties grown in Spain», Maria Fernandez Ruiz, Cucumi founder, told The Luxonomist.

The company, established a year ago, offers us the possibility to uncork a fresh and fruity Albariño –Galician white wine- jam, a more intense jam made with the red grape Garnacha… Cucumi jams are made just with wine, sugar and agar-agar, a natural thickener derived from seaweed harvested in the Cantabrian Sea. Let’s open the jars of the current editions of the jams:

• 100% Albariño Extra Jam. Made with Val de Nora 2013, an Albariño from Rias Baixas, reflects all the virtues of this grape: straw yellow colored, it is fruity, with notes of pineapple and apricot. It suits well a marinated salmon, white fish or a prawn cocktail.
• 100% Garnacha Extra jam. Condenses the vivacious formula of a wine born in Campo de Borja with nice pink and violet notes and a powerful fruity aroma. Gives the feeling of eating berries or forest red fruits. Try to pair it with a foie mousse or a semi-soft cheese.

• 100% Syrah Extra Jam. With a darker color, the texture of the jam obtained with syrah 2009 Venta la Ossa (Castilla-La Mancha), is thicker. This jam plays a great game with dishes such as deer and wild boar or Manchego cheese.
• 100% Tempranillo Extra Jam. It is made with Demora 2007, a wine by Bodega Viña Cénit (Designation of Origin Wines of Zamora). The alcoholic strength of this powerful wine that undergoes a slow process of maturation in oak barrels, obliges to a longer cooking time to obtain an intense jam with a dark color. Dare to dress a rocket salad with a little bit of this jam and put it on a beef carpaccio to add a special touch.

Bubub is another brand that produces artisan and gourmet jams. The factory is located in a small village in Zaragoza province. Their wine jellies are delicious: Txikiritero jam, made with Garnacha from Campo de Borja, a jam made with txacolí, or even a cava and gold jam, a perfect option for enhancing a foie. Bubub products can be found in the Gourmet Club of El Corte Inglés.

Some wineries have decided to try how their wines work in intimate marriage with sugar and pectin. Thus, the small Spanish family winery Señorío de Monterruiz sells a very limited production of jellies: there is one made with an intense wine from red Bobal native grape vines planted in 1965 in La Manchuela (Cuenca) which has a mighty scent that moves the imagination and palate to the darkness and silence where the wine barrels sleep. Those who prefer white to red, can enjoy a jam made from the Airen variety.

Fruita Blanch, a family business of artisanal canned fruits and vegetables makes jams from red wine, champagne … and even from sangria and vermouth! Cucumi jams are made in a small factory in Cabanillas del Campo (Guadalajara) following a completely manual process.

They will move soon into a new building that will triple the current production capacity but that won’t change the careful traditional process of elaboration. Arriaca brewer, which won the first prize of microbreweries in the Thielmann International Fair of Craft Beer Madrid 2014 is just a few kilometers far. The cooperation between these two companies has led to a line of curious beer jams.

The fruity jam Arriaca Wheat has a golden orange color and aromas of clove and banana, characteristic features of this cereal, which gives way to flowers and citrus. The double IPA has the marked bitterness and hop character of this type of beer. It has a darker orange color and a strong aroma. Delights the palate with sweetness, herbaceous, floral and fruity notes and has the persistent bitter taste of hop.

The Imperial Porter is a dark beer with notes of black chocolate, licorice and coffee. The jam made with this dark elixir can round off a smoked meat or a cake. Cucumi is not the only company producing jam from craft beer. Sagra Brewer produces Sagra Suxinsu jam, with a blond color with intense floral aroma and mouth, and the Sagra Bohío surprises with its intense chocolate aroma with hints of caramel, coffee and apple. Domus brewer, another microbrewer established in Toledo, produces a liquid jelly, almost a syrup, made only with beer and sugar, which suits any type of cheese or foie.