Jams from the Tropics

Be adventurous: Floral jams anyone?

Fruit bats in my neighbourhood are absolutely having a field day year round – the houses with trees laden with owner-unwanted ripe mangoes or jambus out number the fingers I have on one hand. What’s not feasted upon by these adorable creatures of the night have only one fate – falling hard onto the ground, splattering the walkways with their nectarine juices. And I can’t help but wonder why no neighbour has harvested these wonderful fruit and turned them into jams. Is it because tropical fruit doesn’t offer a delicious flavour when jammed?

Well, this misgiving was well and truly laid to rest by the newly appointed chef at the Alila Resort in Ubud. His new breakfast menu includes a wonderful array of jams made from fruit naturally growing in Bali. His coconut jam is not a poor imitation of kaya jam: he has finely grated the milky white coconut flesh, and the slivers have withstood the jamming process. So when spread on toast, there is an amazingly sharp contrast in texture as well as taste.   

But that sensation is surpassed by his papaya jam. The fruity pulp disintegrates and becomes smoothly blended with the cane sugars during the jamming process; and out-classes his superb coconut jam by leaps and bounds. It truly pampers your taste buds the way marmalade or black berry jams do.

So if your garden’s shrubs have ripe papaya, pineapples or mangoes, rescue them from the same fate faced by my neighbours’ fruit trees. And toss them into the cauldrons of boiling sugars, stirring heartily as the potions brew; stopping only when scoops of these jams jell on a cold saucer.

Once bottled in sterilized jars, giving some of them away is a great way of saying ‘thanks’ for the dinner invitation. In Singapore, that gesture will be more novel than giving your dinner hosts a bottle of wine. And, given that food outshines alcohol as Singaporeans’ first love, it is highly likely to be more appreciated as well.