Jam

Paul Virant, the “Jar Star” chef of Chicago (and one of my mentors), taught me that you can do more than just freeze melon to preserve it beyond its short season. He also taught me to think about preserves as ratios instead of strict recipes to adapt the recipe to the amount of fruit we had on hand. I usually use 60 percent fruit to 40 percent sugar. The melon jam and pickled watermelon rind recipes are adaptations of the recipes he taught so many of us in the Vie kitchen. Thanks, PV.