Varenye iz Chornoy Smorodiny

the Russian whole-berry blackcurrant preserve: fruit cooked briefly in a heavy syrup so the berries stay round and glossy, spooned into the tea glass or eaten from a saucer between sips

Origin: Russia

From the journey of Currant.

Russia took the blackcurrant, the smorodina, out of the forest and into the monastery garden by about the eleventh century, several hundred years before western Europe thought to do the same, and it has been the most widely planted berry of the Russian household plot ever since. What Russia makes of it is varenye, and varenye is not jam. A jam is boiled hard until the fruit breaks down and the pectin sets; a varenye is cooked briefly and in stages, often over two or three days, so that the berries remain whole, round, and suspended in a loose, clear, glassy syrup that never sets firm. Nor is it a spread. Blackcurrant varenye belongs to the tea table, that fixed institution of Russian hospitality: a spoonful is stirred into a glass of strong zavarka diluted with hot water, or, in the older manner, taken from a saucer and held in the mouth whilst the tea is drunk through it. It is also the standing domestic remedy for a cold, a role it earns honestly, since the blackcurrant carries several times the vitamin C of an orange. Every Russian family with a dacha makes it, and the jars stand in the cupboard as the visible proof of a good summer.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg blackcurrants, stripped from their strigs, stalks and dried flower ends removed
  • 1.2 kg granulated sugar
  • 300 ml water
  • 0.5 whole lemon, juiced (optional)

Method

  1. Strip the currants from their strigs with a fork, pinching off the dried brown flower remnant at the base of each berry. Rinse in cold water, drain thoroughly, and spread on a cloth to dry.
  2. Put the sugar and water in a wide, heavy preserving pan and warm gently, stirring, until every grain has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 3 minutes to a thin syrup, then take off the heat.
  3. Tip the currants into the hot syrup, swirl the pan rather than stirring, and leave to stand off the heat for 4 hours or overnight. The berries will draw in syrup and firm up.
  4. Return the pan to a moderate heat, bring slowly to the boil, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, skimming the pink foam from the surface and swirling the pan occasionally. Add the lemon juice at the end if the fruit is very ripe.
  5. Ladle into warm sterilised jars, filling to the brim, and seal at once. Cool undisturbed and store in a cool, dark place.

Notes

The classic proportion in Russian households is a little more sugar than fruit by weight, which is what keeps the syrup loose and the preserve stable without a firm pectin set; reducing the sugar gives a fresher-tasting varenye that must be kept in the refrigerator and eaten within a month. A five-minute version, pyatiminutka, cooks the fruit in the syrup for only five minutes and is prized for keeping the raw blackcurrant scent, but it will not keep at room temperature. Serve it in a small dish alongside tea rather than on bread; it is also excellent spooned over tvorog, over ice cream, or into a glass of hot water and lemon when someone in the house has a cold.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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