Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber

by Christine Ferber

Chefs throughout the world have long prized the rare and delicious creations of France’s Christine Ferber—an internationally known master patissière who has worked with culinary luminaries Alain Ducasse, the Troisgros family, and Antoine Westermann. For the first time, English-language audiences have access to her artistry with the publication of the French bestseller, Mes The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber . Written in a clear,accessible style, Mes Confitures brings hand-made jams to life for home cooks and professional chefs alike.
     In Mes Confitures , Ferber opens her personal recipe book, sharing such treasures as Black Cherry with Pinot Noir, Apricot and Spiced Apple, and Rosehip and Vanilla. Organized seasonally, uncommon recipes like Rhubarb with Acacia Honey and Rosemary, or Banana, Orange, and Chocolate jams raise the craft of confiture to a new level. Ferber also divulges her secrets, identifying the proper tools and equipment for foolproof, exciting, and unusual creations.
     Ferber’s use of locally grown, extraordinary ingredients, most of which are accessible in farmers’ markets, gourmet foodshops, or by mail-order, makes for exquisite jams that are far more interesting than the everyday. Ferber’s jams are artisanal in their reliance on seasonal fruits, traditional techniques, and their emphasis on simplicity and freshness.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

287 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jam porn.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the vanilla fig jam in this book...delicious.

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very pretty cookbook with some interesting sounding recipes. I cannot wait to try her Carrot and Cinnamon preserves.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

This Jam book is pretty solid for someone looking to be more adventurous with their jams. A lot of the recipes are uncomplicated, and they range from okay to amazing in flavor. A lot of the jams do better as ingredients for other recipes (such as making a glaze for meat) or cheese pairings (a little gruyere and the fig + honey on a charcuterie is to die for) than they do for a regular condiment for bread. I also like recipes that don't just rely on pectin to set everything, and the use of the apple Jelly in this book to do that instead is impressive.

However, this book is NOT for someone first starting out. There was a lot of implied knowledge that the book doesn't explain at any point, which is rough if you're first starting out. Stuff such as "check the set" could be googled, but there are some skills that the book expects you to inately know and doesn't even mention for an inexperienced reader to look up. However, if you've canned a few jams/ done a bit of hot water canning, this can be a great way to make better versions of Jams you've already made, or to just make something new

[Joyce Olij]

I bought this book as a recommendation by Martha Stewart in an episode of her show Martha Cooks on Roku.
So far I have made the rhubarb rosemary jam, which is very yummy! I hope to make more kinds of jam and give to friends/neighbours/family as Christmas gifts, which hopefully I'll get around to!
I'll rate the book once I make a few more of her jams. Many jams in the book require "overnight maceration" with sugar, and then you strain and only boil the syrup, and then add the fruit back in at the very end. Apparently this way you end up with a fresher fruit taste. All natural ingredients, no CERTO/jam powders added.

[Jennifer Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christine Ferber is a jam aficionado from France whose creations are distributed in small batches via the finest hotels, shops, and restaurants across Europe, bringing in over 2 million dollars a year in profit. From jam! Priced typically at 10 euros or more for a jar, her preserves are quite a luxury and highly regarded in culinary circles. Fortunately she’s released a cookbook, Mes Confitures, that details her recipes and techniques so that we can affordably enjoy her jams without having to purchase them retail. No pectin powders here! Every jam takes two to three days to make with each recipe calling for the fruit to be cooked down multiple times to create a thick jam consistency. Earlier this month we held our first annual canning party and we prepared a couple of jams from Ferber’s book. Some of them set (the honey rhubarb rosemary is amazing as is the carrot cardamom), but unfortunately the largest batch of strawberry that we attempted did not reach jam thickness because I tried to shortcut the method when pressed for time, macerating the strawberries for a much shorter time than called for and only draining and boiling the syrup once. This resulted in strawberries going into the final jam that were much more watery than they should have been, preventing the jam from setting properly. Luckily we enjoy strawberries in syrup just as much as we enjoy strawberry jam so all is not lost. A lot of delicious cakes, bowls of ice cream, and crepes will be adorned with the 9 pints of strawberry jam syrup we created. Note that Ferber does not include any detailed instructions on how to process the jars of jam for storage, so if you’re new to canning you’ll need some standard “how-to” canning books in addition to her cookbook. We found that processing jams from Mes Confitures at 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure after the canner had been emptied of excess air (10 minutes of boiling with the lid on and locked) and brought up to pressure did the trick.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of recipes - you can't complain for a lack of ideas - and the ones I've made so far are delicious. However, if you're looking for instruction or some reasoning behind the recipes themselves, you won't find much here. I find myself constantly asking how to do something or why to do it the way prescribed, and there is basically no discussion on these points. As another reviewer pointed out, you really need to already know something about canning to make any of these recipes work. This book is certainly valuable, but shouldn't be your first book about jams unless you're very resourceful and don't mind turning to the internet for your how's and why's.

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful, unusual recipes using green apple pectin so that you don't have to by commercial pectin. But . . . .

(1) not really any instructions on how to can these jams, so if you're a beginner, you will need to look on-line at the USDA web site for those instructions.

(2) no explanation as to how or why she came up with these flavor combos, and . . .

(3) quite a few of the recipes are variations of the same basic recipe, so it can get a bit boring to read the book after a while, but it is still a great resource.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really beautiful book with recipes that seem straight-forward after doing the necessary prep work ahead of time. I got the few tools I was lacking and hope to make my first batch of marmelade next week! A great gift for a jam enthusiast.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Some really tasty looking recipes that I can't wait to try and some recipes that ask for some produce that would be difficult to procure. There are even a few beer jellies that I really am looking forward to attempting to make.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly inspiring!

[Marlene Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

great new twists to recipes!

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the next level in jams and jellies encouraging small batches focusing in on excellent flavor and epic jelly making.