BC Kiwi Jam

If you have ever bought a jar of Sticky Spoon jam, you may have noticed that our philosophy is printed on the back label of every jar:

"Sticky Spoon believes that locally sourced fruits and vegetables cooked in small batches, with no commercial pectin added, results in delicious jams."

And we mean it. You may think that this implies that in the middle of the cold, rainy Winter, the Sticky Spoon duo puts their feet up and relaxes while waiting for berries and stonefruit to pop up. Nope. While we don't play around with all sorts of exotic fruits, we are lucky to find that, in season here in BC, from November to February, is a fruit that tastes as tropical as it gets: kiwifruit.

If you didn't know that kiwi is a Winter fruit that grows in BC, you are not the only one. When mentioning our local kiwi jam, the overall reaction is of surprise, even with local chefs and serious food geeks. But it is true, you don't have to fly in kiwifruit from halfway around the world, they grow right here, mainly in the south of Vancouver Island.

A tree fruit that is actually a berry, kiwifruit happens to be ridiculously good for you. The benefits and nutritional value of kiwi actually go beyond that of most fruits. Kiwi is a rich source of vitamin C (some say more so than an orange), vitamin E, vitamin A and we read that it contains more potassium than a banana. Even when cooked down for long periods of time, as we do with our jams, kiwi retains a lot of its nutritional value. Imagine that, getting your daily dose of vitamin E and A from Sticky Spoon jam.

We made a beautiful, bright emerald green jam dotted little black freckles. Sticky Spoon BC Kiwi Jam. It has a very smooth, almost creamy texture with a slight crunch from the seeds of the kiwifruit. We added the zest and juice of limes to give the jam a pleasant zing, which we then mellowed out with a bit of honey.

As we often tend to add a touch of sweet jam to our cocktails, we must recommend shaking up this one and making a yummy Kiwi Caipirinha out of it, or even a Kiwi Mojito. It will make you feel like Summer's just around the corner. We also suggest pairing it with jerk chicken or grilled salmon and have found that it is delicious with a roast leg of lamb and curry. On that note, BC Kiwi Jam is available for purchase at Vij's Rangoli Restaurant. And if you live on Vancouver Island, you can find it at The Root Cellar in Victoria.

And there's always the Vancouver Farmers Market where you can actually sample the jam and talk to us directly. We try hard to make our little booth seem cozy and love it when friends and fans stop by to chat and eat some jam. See you soon.