Spread The Joy

I've always wanted to eat my way through France, traveling through its different regions and seeing how the produce and cooking differ in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

One day, bank balance and time permitting, I will.

But for a quickie trip through the country, all you need to do is get a pack of these six jams ($6.90) from Carrefour. They are from its in-house Reflets de France label, which showcases specialities from different regions in the country. So in the pack, there’s fig and Poire Williams jams from Provence and apricot jam from Roussillon, both in the south; strawberry jam from Perigord in the south-west; rhubarb jam from Pas de Calais in the north; and clementine jam from Corsica, an island south-east of France.

These little pots give you just a taste of the jam, and how I wish some were available in bigger jars.

I like the tart rhubarb jam and the zippy orange and clementine ones very much. But my favourite is the Poire William, made with the sweet fruit we know as Bartlett pears. And this one, happily, is also available in a larger, 325g jar ($5.90).

It’s quite a liquidy jam, studded with pieces of the fruit. I have mine with thick made-from-scratch pancakes. You’ll want to linger over this breakfast of hot cakes, soft butter and sweet jam.

A keen cook also gave me the idea of swirling it into butter cake batter just before baking. I’m going to try that, and it will work with muffin batter, too.