Pumpkin Preserves

Why do we do the things that we do?  Sometimes we don't even know why we start doing things.  Celebrating holidays, celebrating life events, wearing certain clothing, or even drinking a coffee late at night after a meal knowing it will keep you up.  There is a single word to explain this all, and Tevye the Milkman from Anatevka even sang a song about it...Tradition!

It is how we remember the past and keep our cultural heritage alive.  It is how we create new memories while remembering old ones.  Some traditions have prevailed for thousands of years while others have gone away.  Some are even resurrected from the grave and given a new life.  As humans we crave for belonging and to find meaning and symbolism in our lives.  We use traditions to connect and give meaning to our existence.  So today I present to you a tradition from my family.  One that has traveled many years and thousands of miles.  It has withstood the test of time, war, famine, and countless periods of relocation to say the least.  It is the humble tradition of making pumpkin preserves during the fall harvest.  It is the epitome of slow food and hearkens back to a time when it was necessary to preserve food in order to survive the winter.  Make sure to set aside some time if you plan on making the preserves.  You do not need to hover over the pot while it cooks, but don't forget about it either.  The amounts of ingredients in the recipe can change on a number of factors depending on pumpkin size, pot size, etc.  So keep this in mind and if you have any questions, I am more than willing to help so give me a shout.  

Traditionally, this is served with coffee as "spoon sweets" with other confections when there is company or during breakfast. 

Pumpkin Preserves 

     by Nathan Kibarian & Family

Completion time : 2-3 days

Yield: 1 sugar pumpkin, about 1.5 Kg

Finished Pumpkin Preserves

  

Ingredients:

1 sugar pumpkin (about 1-2 Kg)

Pickling Lime (food grade Calcium Hydroxide) 1/2 cup per gallon of water

Water (as needed)

Lemon Juice (10 oz per gallon of water)

Water (as needed)

2 Cinnamon Sticks

12 cloves, whole

Clockwise from top: Vanilla bean, cloves, star anise, cinnamon.

2 Star Anise pods

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 Lemon, cut in half, juiced

Water (as needed)

Sugar, Granulated

Equipment:

Cutting-board

Large knife

Peeler

Large spoon

Large bowl (made of a non-reactive material)

Colander 

Measuring cup

Large, non-reactive stockpot

small pot

candy thermometer

Jars, as needed to store preserves

Before we begin:  

You can use larger pumpkins to make the preserves as well; however, the texture will not be as fine grained as a smaller sugar pumpkin.  You could also use any other variety of winter-squash or heirloom pumpkins.  One of my favorite pumpkins to use for this recipe is the rouge vif d’Etampes which is an heirloom pumpkin originating from France.  Whatever you end up using, make sure it is at its peak of ripeness and free of spoilage and non-characteristic blemishes (some squash varieties naturally are warty and rough, this is okay).  Also, the reason why the cooking process is so long is because you need to replace the water in all the cells in the pumpkin with water that is bound by sugar.  This lowers the water activity, thus reducing and ultimately preventing spoilage due to bacterial growth.  There is a great deal of science that goes into this process but I won't bore you with that now.  

1. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean the inside.  Use a spoon to scrape the inside cavity clean.  Save seeds for roasting if desired.

Cut and scraped pumpkin (step 1)

2.  Peel the skin off the pumpkin.

Peeled Pumpkin (step 2

3. Dice the pumpkin into 2 cm cubes and place into a large enough non-reactive bowl to hold all the pieces

Diced Pumpkin (step 3)

4. Measure and pour enough water over the pumpkin cubes to cover with an additional 2cm of water.  Take note of the amount of water used.

Measuring water (step 4)

5. Remove about 3 cups of water and measure the appropriate amount of pickling lime into this water.  Stir and pour this slurry over the pumpkin.  

     -I ended up using 1 gallon of water and 1/2 cup of pickling lime for my pumpkin.

Pickling Lime (step 5)

Pickling Lime Solution with pumpkin (step 5)

6.  Place a plate over the pumpkin to weigh the pieces down to keep then submerged at all times.  

Plate placed on Pumpkin cubes (step 6)

7.  Set aside at room temperature for a minimum of 12 hours.  24-36 hours would be best.  Stir every 6-8 hours to redistribute the lime throughout the water.  It will naturally settle to the bottom, do not worry.

8. Once the pumpkin is ready, boil a pot of water with lemon juice 10oz lemon juice per 1 gallon water (enough to submerge all the pumpkin).

9. As the lemon water is coming to a boil, thoroughly rinse the pumpkin cubes.  Drain the pickling lime water solution and rinse at lease 5 times.  It is very important to remove all of the residue from the pumpkin's surface.  

     -Caution: Pickling lime has a very high pH of about 12. It will react with aluminum and can stain surfaces with a chalky residue.  Do not worry though, when used correctly it is perfectly safe to consume.

Thoroughly rinse the pumpkin (step 9)

10.  Once the lemon water is at a rolling boil, put the cleaned pumpkin cubes in the solution and turn off the heat.  Cover the pot and set aside to cool.  It will take a few hours to cool to room temperature but this is an important step to creating the characteristic texture and color of this food.  

11.  When the pumpkin reaches room temperature, drain all the water from the pumpkin.  

12. In a clean stockpot create a solution of sugar and water in a 4;1 ratio.  4 parts water to 1 part granulated sugar.  Heat to a simmer to dissolve all the sugar.  Then cut and juice 1 lemon and put into the syrup (juice and the two lemon halves).  Put the drained pumpkin cubes into the syrup.  Also add the spices into the syrup at this time.  

Pumpkin in syrup beginning to simmer (step 12) 

     -If you would like a paler color, do not add the spices until the very end of the cooking process as they darken the syrup.

13.  Simmer the pumpkin in the syrup for about 8 hours, continually replenish the water in the pot to the amount you started with throughout the cooking process.  

14.  After 8 hours, make a syrup with 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water.  Add this to the pot and continue cooking for another 6 hours.  Replenish with fresh water when needed.

14.  Again, make a syrup solution of 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water and pour into the pot.  Continue cooking for another 6 hours.

15.  To check if the pumpkin is ready, remove a cube from the pot and allow it to cool.  It should have a nice sheen and should be slightly translucent.  If the pumpkin is not ready, continue to simmer in the syrup while replenishing the water until it is ready.  Once the pumpkin has reached this stage, remove the pumpkin from the syrup and place into another heat-proof container.  Continue cooking the syrup on high while measuring the temperature with a candy thermometer.   Cook to 114°C and put the pumpkin back into syrup.  

Boiling Syrup (step 15)

Pumpkin removed from syrup (step 15)

Pumpkin added back to syrup (step 15)

16.  At this point you can either can the preserves so they can be shelf-stable for up to 12 months or place in containers and keep refrigerated.

17. Enjoy with a cup of Armenian coffee...or as I just recently discovered, on a fresh slice of baguette with blue cheese.  It is a match made in heaven.  

Finding Perfection

Perfection.  What is it?  Many people strive for perfection without ever reaching it and usually get burned in the process.  Others tell you to not even bother or give you some inspirational quote like "Shoot for the stars and even if you miss you will be among the stars."  I find all this to be misinformation, even if it is meant to be helpful advice from a friend.  What I say is aim for perfection head on, point blank.  Period.  Do not settle for good enough. Ever.  The key difference in this approach as opposed to the failed process of perfection many people experience is knowing how to define perfection.  Once you define it, it becomes attainable and much easier to do so.  Failure is always in the cards, but it should not be a deterrent or an option in any case.  Use it as a lesson on the road to perfection.

Many of my fondest childhood memories revolved around my back yard.  Barbecues, hide-and-seek, climbing trees, etc.  However, one of my most cherished memories revolves around coffee.

During the summer, my grandparents would make Armenian coffee after dinner served with chilled watermelon.  I would sit on my grandparent's laps and would grind the coffee with an old brass coffee grinder.  One of those old school, hand-made ones with the etched patterns on the side.  This grinder would turn beautifully roasted coffee beans, with their intoxicating aroma and oily sheen into an even more aromatic powder.  As a five year old, this was the coolest thing ever.  Put beans in, turn handle like crazy, get powder out of the bottom.

What was most memorable though was the stories that I would be told while grinding the coffee.  Stories about current events, stories about the past, anecdotes, and even jokes.  Once I finished grinding the coffee, my grandmother would take the resulting powder and go back into the kitchen.  A few minutes later she would return with a tray of demitasse cups filled with a rich smelling black liquid.  At this point in my life I had no interest in the foul taste of coffee but it was more than made up for with the chilled and deliciously sweet watermelon.  The stories would continue and the coffee would disappear with only a thick layer of sludge remaining in the bottom of each cup.  After everything was cleaned up we would then go home and be put to bed.

In these moments we had all found perfection.

Fast forward seventeen years to today.  I take out the same coffee grinder (my grandparents later went on to give me as pre-ground coffee became king) and grind some coffee to make before I head into work.  Upon inspection I realized that the coffee grounds were not ground to the fineness required for Armenian coffee.  Had we been drinking coffee made with these imperfect grounds for all these years?  I took out a wrench and after some gentle coaxing the adjustment screw turned and I tighten the burr grinder.  For almost 25 years, this had not been changed.  I threw in some more coffee beans and ground them up.  Perfect.  The beans were transformed to a powder as light as snow and as smooth as silk.  It made for an amazing cup of coffee to start off my day.
              
In the beginning, this grinder created perfection.  Later, it would go on to create perfection once more.  Perfection is what we make of it.  Whether your definition of perfect is an ethereal croissant, a flawlessly performed concerto, or an evening our with friends that lasts to 5 am in Boston -- it becomes possible once you have a firm grasp on what you consider to be perfect.  So do not be afraid.  Do not hesitate and conquer your Perfect. Define it and it will surely be yours.

Fruit...

Throughout my workday I tend to have mini "revelations" about life.  Sometimes they are in fact mini, other times I feel that they are grand ideas and concepts pertaining to philosophical ideals and such.  I try not to get ahead of myself and usually laugh at the fact that such ideas even tend to cross my mind.

Today as I was working, a thought did cross my mind that I would like to share.  I had this idea that people are very much like fruit.  Maybe this comparison has been made before, and if so I apologize.  But if you think about it, people start off just like fruit.  Small, immature and generally unassuming in a sea of leaves and other under-ripe fruit.  Then as both humans and fruits age they grow physically in size and on other levels as well.  Fruits get sweeter (for the most part) and humans mature psychologically (also for the most part).

Now, here is the idea that got me thinking the most.  When a fruit reaches the peak of ripeness, there are two paths that it can take.  (For the sake of simplicity and to illustrate an idea, let us assume for now these are the only two paths.  I realize you can do a great deal with fresh fruit).  One fruit is picked at its utmost peak of flavor, the perfect point.  It is juicy, tender, fresh, delicious, and unadulterated.  However, this fruit is then allowed to pass this point of perfection.  It is allowed to putrefy.  It becomes disfigured and loses all of its previously desirable attributes.  It becomes so horrid, that it even becomes a danger to all the other ripening and fully ripened fruit around it.  So then it is cast out and forgotten.
At the same time, however, there is an equally perfect and delicious fruit that is carefully plucked at the moment of perfection and travels to the home of a vintner.  This vintner uses a caring hand to transform this perfect fruit into a wine of divine character.  He waits patiently as his work needs time to mature.  Every couple of months he takes a sample of the wine and decides it is still not ready.  Months turn into years as the wine is still not ready, but the humble vintner sees great potential.  Soon word spreads of this magnificent wine.  However, the vintner does not give in to the pleading people.  "It is not ready, but soon don't you worry," he says in an effort to quell the masses.

Another year passes, and at this point the vintner has aged considerably since the start of our story.  He forgets to check the wine, first for one month, then two, then three.  Then one day during a village celebration an old friend asks him about the wine and the vintner shoots up out of his seat!  He had forgotten about the wine!  He runs back home and rolls out the barrel, opens the spout and takes a sip--- he cannot believe his tongue.  It is a moment of pure beauty.  A revelation if you will.  corks the large barrel and starts rolling it to the center of town.  He is yelling all the way in pure joy.  At this point, the villagers do not know the cause of the commotion and run to his aid.  The music and dancing stop and the dancers clear the way as this wild man rolls his barrel of wine to the center of the village square.  Almost out of breath, he asks the person closest to him for a cup and fills it with the wine.  He gives it back without saying a word.  The man takes a sip, is silent for a moment and then starts laughing and crying out of pure ecstasy and joy.  The vintner then starts filling everyone's cups so that they may all get a taste.  They all take a sip and burst out in shouts of joy.  The vintner had created the finest wine anyone had ever tasted.  For that one moment, they all had a moment of clarity.  A moment where their troubles were gone and they were living only in that one moment.
For the rest of the evening, they could not help but celebrate the vintners success.  They danced and sang to their hearts content.  They even thanked the vintner for not letting them drink the wine earlier.  As the celebrating continued late into the night, the vintner found a seat at the edge of the square distancing himself from the revelers.  He sat in quiet contemplation and remembered that beautiful fruit he had picked all those years ago.  Staring back at the people, he let out a sigh of contentment.  That fruit had brought so much happiness to so many people and it would never be forgotten.

Many years later, even after the quiet passing of the humble vintner, the wine was still remembered.  It had become a legend in the village and the vintner, a hero.  Word had even spread to other towns in the countryside; however, no one else other than the party-goers that evening many years ago were to ever taste the wine again.      
-------
So which will it be?  You can take life in two directions.  You can grow older and live a foul life and have a fate similar to the first fruit. Or, you can live a life of continuous maturation and learning and have a fate similar to the second fruit.  The choice is yours.

People forget how their actions can influence others.  Live a life worth living so that in the end you become like the vintner and his wine.  They will be remembered for eternity for the joy they brought this small village.  How will you be remembered?

Hello!

Good Morning Everyone!

So this is my first post on my new blog Baker's Wild.  I decided to begin documenting some of the things I do relating to baking & pastry, travel, and other miscellaneous things that I deem worth writing about at the moment.   I hope you enjoy and if you ever have any questions or ideas, I'm welcome to suggestions.

Just as a quick introduction, My name is Nathan.  I currently work as a pastry chef and I absolutely love my job.  Even with all the cons to working in the hospitality industry, it is something that I truly enjoy.  Long hours and backbreaking work are what make it so interesting and you get to meet so many people from all walks of life.  Whether it be the guests I have served or the people I have worked with, there is an interesting story to be heard from all.  Every person lives and experiences life in different ways and through conversation you are able to peer into a whole different world from yours, even if it is for a brief moment.  This leads me into another topic.  Traveling.  I love it.  The experiences I have had traveling are ones that I will cherish for a lifetime.  Every time I travel, either in the US or abroad, I grow as a person and gain knowledge that would not have been possible otherwise.  Every culture, and more specifically, every person you meet is a treasure-trove of information waiting to be tapped.  Maybe I look at the world through rose colored glasses and try not to accentuate the negatives, but I'm perfectly fine with that.  Have your head in the clouds, but your feet firmly planted in the ground.  Always understand the reality, but do not forget the potential we all have within us.  A positive outlook on life is all it takes to turn yourself around and truly enjoy what you have been given.
So enough of that positive and hopeful rant, time to get to business.  Here is a quick list of things I hope to add to this blog...

-Recipes with trial and errors included
-Baking and cooking tips
-Posts on my travels
-Philosophical questions and ideas that come to mind at work while decorating cakes that I then come home and write down
-Miscellaneous other stuff...

Thanks everyone!