Raisine
This is the famous French marmalade or "butter," using equal weight of grapes and pears. Simmer the grapes alone first, till soft, in just a little water, having washed, seeded, and stemmed them. Press through colander and add the pears, uncooked but pared, cored, and sliced. Simmer and stir till thick when sweeten and strain and place in jars.
BRANDIED GRAPES (White or Purple) Remove all imperfect grapes from the bunches and prick each one left on the bunches in two or three places. Place a layer of powdered sugar on the bottom of the jars to be used, then put in a bunch of grapes, alternating sugar and grapes till jars are nearly full. Fill up remaining space with brandy; cover jars and set away.
Two preserves in one entry: a cooked grape-and-pear butter, and grapes put down raw in sugar and brandy. Neither gives quantities or storage instructions, so both need filling in.
- The hinge: cook and sieve the grapes firstIf you are using slip-skin grapes such as Concord, they are hard to reduce to a smooth butter with skins and seeds present. Simmering them alone with a splash of water and pressing through a colander or food mill gives you a clean pulp; the pears then cook down into it.
- Scale it yourself"Equal weight of grapes and pears" is the whole measure. Two pounds of each is a manageable batch and will give roughly three to four half-pint jars, depending on how far you reduce it.
- When to sweetenSugar goes in at the end, once the mixture is already thick, and the amount is left to you. Something in the region of half the weight of the finished pulp is a common proportion for a fruit butter, though recipes vary widely; adding it early slows evaporation and increases the risk of scorching.
- "Strain" means sieve againThe second straining comes after the pears have cooked in, and it is what gives the smooth texture the name implies. Push the hot mixture through a fine sieve or food mill.
- Stirring is not optionalA thick fruit purée catches on the bottom of the pan and takes the whole batch with it. Use a heavy-bottomed pan, keep the heat low once it thickens, and stir down to the base. It is done when a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a track.
- Storage the book leaves out"Place in jars" was written for an era of paraffin seals and cool cellars. Treat it as a refrigerator preserve, good for a few weeks, or freeze it — or process filled jars in a boiling-water bath following a current tested procedure for fruit butters.
- Brandied grapes: choose and prick carefullyOnly sound, fully ripe fruit will do; one split or moulded grape spoils the jar. The pricking lets the brandy penetrate and the juice out, which is what turns the sugar into syrup.
- Brandy strength mattersThe spirit is the preservative here. Use a full-strength brandy at 40% alcohol and make sure the grapes stay submerged, or the exposed fruit will spoil. Keep the jars covered and in the dark, and give them at least a month before opening; three or four is better.
Raisiné — from raisin, the French word for grape — is a country preserve associated above all with Burgundy and the Franche-Comté, where it was made at vintage time from the same fruit going to the press. In its oldest form it needed no sugar at all: grape must was boiled down for hours until its own sugars concentrated into a dark, almost black paste, and pears, quinces or apples were cut into it to give body. That made it a sweetener as much as a spread in centuries when refined sugar was expensive, and versions of the same idea run all round the Mediterranean, from Italian saba to Middle Eastern grape molasses. The American version here adds sugar and instructs the cook to press out skins and seeds. The brandied grapes that follow belong to a different household habit: fruit put down raw in sugar and spirit, needing no cooking, no seal and no skill beyond patience.