Maypop Jelly

the foraged preserve of the American South: the wild maypop, the one hardy passion fruit, cooked with apple and lemon and set into a clear, pale amber jelly of extraordinary perfume

Origin: United States

From the journey of Passion Fruit.

The maypop, Passiflora incarnata, is the passion fruit of the temperate world: the one member of a great tropical family hardy enough to survive a hard frost, scrambling through the old fields, fencerows, and roadside verges of the American South from Texas to Virginia. Its flower is the full extravagant passion flower in miniature, lavender and white and intricately fringed, and its fruit is a green ovoid the size of a hen's egg that ripens to yellow and wrinkles as it falls. The name is generally taken from the loud pop the hollow ripe fruit makes when trodden on, a sound familiar to generations of Southern children. The Cherokee and their neighbours gathered and ate it long before Europeans arrived, and settlers took up the habit; because the pulp is sharp and comparatively sparse, the classic use has always been to cook it down and set it, and maypop jelly is one of the great foraged preserves of Appalachia and the Gulf states. It is a preserve of place and of season, made in late summer from fruit gathered by the roadside, and its flavour, floral and intensely tart, is unlike anything a shop can sell. A little tart apple is cooked with it to supply the pectin the maypop lacks.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg ripe maypops (or passion fruit), roughly chopped
  • 300 g tart cooking apples or crab apples, roughly chopped (cores and skins left on)
  • 800 ml water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 700 g granulated sugar, approximately (use 450 g per 600 ml of strained juice; see method)

Method

  1. Gather maypops that have turned yellow and wrinkled slightly; these are ripe and most fragrant. Rinse, chop them roughly (shell, pulp, and seeds together), and put them in a large pan with the chopped apples, the water, and the lemon juice.
  2. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, mashing occasionally, until the fruit is completely soft and the apple has collapsed.
  3. Scald a jelly bag or a large square of muslin set in a sieve, suspend it over a bowl, and pour in the cooked fruit. Leave to strain undisturbed overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
  4. Measure the strained juice into the cleaned pan. For every 600 ml of juice, add 450 g of sugar. Warm gently, stirring, until the sugar is completely dissolved, then bring to a full rolling boil.
  5. Boil hard for 8 to 12 minutes, then test for a set: drop a little onto a chilled saucer, let it cool a moment, and push it with a fingertip. When it wrinkles and holds a crease, setting point is reached. Skim any foam.
  6. Ladle the hot jelly into warm, sterilised jars, seal at once, and leave undisturbed to cool and set. Store in a cool, dark cupboard.

Notes

Maypops are gathered wild and vary enormously in yield and sharpness, so treat the quantities as a guide and always test for set rather than trusting the clock. If maypops are not to be had, ordinary tropical passion fruit makes an excellent jelly by exactly the same method, though the flavour is deeper and less floral. Maypop jelly is eaten on hot biscuits and cornbread in the Southern manner, and it is also very good spooned alongside roast pork or game.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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