Last weekend’s warm weather ripened a few more of my tomatoes but ironically I’ve been hoping they stay green this year. And the reason is that I have been given the most wonderful recipe for Green Tomato Jam – not chutney but jam – and it is absolutely delicious.  So much so, that I will be hoping for green tomatoes rather than red ones next year.

It will be known as Gerald’s Green Tomato Jam  (GGTJ), as Gerald was kind enough to both gift me a jar of the said jam and then generously share the recipe with me, giving me permission to share it with you. 

He admits it is ‘culled’ from several recipes and explained, ‘Recalling a breakfast experience in southern France in the 80s, when we (with his wife Isabel) mistook GTJ for fig jam and were gently corrected by the lady of the house.  

We surfed the net for a recipe.  As a newcomer to “jam making”, I was surprised at the variations, so I took bits from here and there and came up with what I passed to you.’

And here is the recipe as he emailed it … enjoy!

Ingredients:

1kg green tomatoes, cored and sliced (2-3mm) with seeds

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

600g jam sugar or ordinary granulated sugar (I usually use ordinary)

20 g candied peel

Crystalised ginger

 Method:

Put tomatoes, lemon zest and juice, and sugar in a large pan. Cover and leave overnight at room temperature. You’ll find it produces a lot of liquid.

Bring to a “rolling” boil, stirring frequently. Takes about 45-60 minutes until it goes transparent green and bubbles “crack”.  

Recommended boiling times often vary from batch to batch (I guess it’s biological variation in the fruit).