What in the world is a jostaberry? Well, I had absolutely no idea wither until I picked them … by accident … thinking that they were large black currants. Oops. They are a hybrid between a black currant, a North American coastal black gooseberry and a regular gooseberry. Of course! I don’t think that this helps anyone much, but is essence, they are a large black currant or a small black gooseberry, about the size of a cultivated blueberry (so not the Maine wild blueberries, but more the high bush kind) that taste a little like a gooseberry and a lot like a black currant. Clear as mud? I thought so.
From a linguistic point of view — me being German and all — it is kind of interesting too: The name Jostaberry was created via combining the German words for blackcurrant and gooseberry, namely Johannisbeere (“Jo”) and Stachelbeere (“Sta”). Following German pronunciation of “J”, it should be pronounced “yostaberry” in English.
But what they really are is a great base for jam. This turned out wonderfully. It’s not too sweet, has the distinct tartness that any currant jam will give you and jelled really nicely as well. It will go great mixed into my morning yogurt.
Ingredients
5 cups fresh, ripe jostaberries (4 pints or so)
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups sugar
1 package low sugar pectin
3 teaspoons vodka
Directions
Using a food mill, crush about half of the jostaberries, keeping the remaining intact into a 6-8 quart sauce pot. Add lemon juice and sugar. Place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to full boil. Cook gently 3 minutes. Add in the fruit pectin and boil for exactly 1 minute more. Remove from heat, skim off foam with metal spoon, ladle into jars to 1/8 inch top of jars. Cover with a clean dish towel and let cool completely.
Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of vodka into each jar and swirl to cover the surface layer of jam. Seal tightly. These will stay good in the refrigerator for about 2 months. If you want to last longer, can/seal your jars per your usual canning procedure.
