Add the shredded pumpkins and set aside for 12 hours. Transfer the diluted pickling water to a large bowl, making sure to get rid of the pickling lime sediments that precipitated at the bottom use only the clear water. Take a sharp knife, split the pumpkin and start peeling the outer layer of its skin, scrape the seeds and fibers and shred using a food processor, hand shred or cut into matchsticks sized pieces. Refrigerate jazarieh with its syrup in a jar with airtight seal or with cling film to keep it from drying out, It keeps well in the fridge for 3 weeks, garnish with the previously soaked nuts upon serving.ĭilute the pickling lime in 8 cups of water, and keep aside for 1 hour, allowing the pickling lime to precipitate, and the water considerably gets clear. The reason for thoroughly rinsing and changing water, is to protect yourself from foodborne botulism. I rinsed mine in six changes of water sink. But the thing is that soaked pumpkin shreds should be rinsed thoroughly several times to remove all the pickling lime sediments. When I was making jazarieh, my son Hicham realized that I am using pickling lime to soak the fruit, he stared at me with a perplexed look and asked: “Are you sure mom?” Yes, I answered, a technique used in the Middle East for over hundred years and maybe longer to make jams, it is not something new. You will be using the clear water to be soaking the shredded pumpkin for 12 hours. To make it safe for consumption, pickling lime will be diluted in water and kept for 1 hour aside, allowing the pickling lime to precipitate and the water run clear. It firms up its cell wall so it doesn’t get mushy while cooking. Soaking the shredded pumpkins in pickling lime helps improve the firmness and crunchiness of the candied pumpkin. Traditional jam recipes usually suggest soaking certain fruits in pickling lime for 12 – 15 hours, the process gives extra good crunch to jams. Pickling lime is calcium hydroxide and it is also called food-grade a white chemical powder used in the Middle East by our ancestors to make some jams. What is pickling lime, and why and how do we use it to make jazarieh? Here the pumpkin was cut by a serrated knife to matchsticks, the end result is more of a candied pumkin my personal preference!.As you can see it has a jammy texture, my husband’s preference. Here is the grated version, I shredded the pumpkin using a box grater.Look at the photos below to see which version you prefer.
Food chemistry is very complex even with a humble recipe like jazarieh. Both taste so good but both ways respond differently in terms of taste and texture.
I ended up believing that the cutting way affects the texture and flavor of food, including jazarieh julienning yields a candied result, while shredding develops a jammy texture. One time I cut the pumpkins into matchsticks and another time I shredded using a box grater.
I never thought the size or geometry of the pumpkin cuts would really affect the flavor and palatability of jazarieh until I tested it twice. You don’t need a thermometer to make the jam, you can know visually when it is done once the sugar syrup thickens and the color of the pumpkin shreds turn into translucent crystals. You can easily double the recipe, but one thing to consider is that the cooking time will change. Learn how to transform pumpkin into a delicious candy treat. Jazarieh is scented with orange blossom water and mastic gum to brighten up the flavor notes and to create a unique taste, it is common to spice it up with a cinnamon stick and cloves upon cooking – I prefer it spice-free. Though jazarieh is made of pumpkins, I think the name comes from the brilliant bright orange color of carrots. Jazarieh is derived from the word jazar, and jazar in Arabic means carrots.
If you are turning your nose up because you think it is just a fruit dipped in sugar syrup, you have never had a jazarieh before. It is technically more of a glazed candied dessert than of a jam. Jazarieh is something we run across every time we visit oriental sweet shops in Saida (Saidon), it is quite a sight to see the glistening jazarieh stacked into pyramid shaped piles and flecked with peeled almonds and pine nuts, an experience not to be missed. I sometimes forget how much I love pumpkins until I visit Lebanon.
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