Suco e geléia de uva (Grape juice and grape jam)

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The grape juice is a delicious and healthy beverage, and it is one of the most popular juices in Brazil. In recent years it grew more than the others grape products, has shown positive export growth and it is an expanding sector in Brazil, overcoming the orange juice production, ubiquitous until this day.
Grape juice has the same benefits of wine plus no alcohol: mineral salts, vitamin C, fibres, anti-inflammatory effects, cognitive and memory enhancements, among many others.
Brazilian wine production is concentrated in Rio Grande do Sul, Vale do São Francisco (Pernambuco and Bahia) and São Paulo.
Homemade grape jam is an important element of traditional cuisine, however, agro-industrial production of grape jam is much less important than juice production.

Ingredients
• 1 kg ripe black wine grapes
• 250 g sugar
• sugar (¼ the weight of grape mixture)

Preparation method

For the juice:
1. Wash the grapes and remove them from their stems. I used very sweet Sangiovese grapes.
2. Combine the grapes and sugar into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and let them cook while stirring continuously, until the grapes are falling apart. It takes about 15 minutes.
3. Place the sieve over a bowl and put the cooked mixture into the sieve without press down. Set aside skins and seeds left behind in the sieve. Allow concentrated juice to cool, pour it into containers and store in the fridge. Add natural water to concentrated juice before serving.

For the jam:
1. Pass skins and seeds set aside through a potato ricer and discard the skins and seeds left behind in the potato ricer.
2. Weigh the obtained grape mixture (270 g) and add sugar equal to ¼ the weight of grape mixture (70 g).
3. Cook it over a gentle flame, stirring continuously, until it reaches the desired consistency, thin or thick. Using a sugar thermometer bring the jam to 105°C. It only takes a few minutes.
4. Remove grape jam from the saucepan, let it cool, move into a jar and store it in the fridge. Grape jam can also be canned for longer storage. For these ingredients I’ve got 230 g of jam and 750 ml of juice.

Note: The amount of added sugar depends on the grape ripening phase and on the amount of sugar present in grapes.

Posted on: 09 October 2017