Ծ ի ր ա ն ի մ ո ւ ր ա բ ա
apricots preserved in simple syrup
When we were served tea in Armenia, we were also offered murabba, a fruit preserve. Not to be mistaken with jam, murabba is made up of chunks of fruit and served on little plates, the idea being that you eat a spoonful of it alongside the tea. The habit of preserving fruit in this style is common across former territories of the Persian Empire.
The tricky part was cooking the fruit in the sugar so that it didn’t disintegrate into the jam. Dorothy Garabedian, an Armenian-American who lives in Germany, answered our questions by paying a visit to her eighty-year-old Armenian neighbor, Amalia Arutianz. Amalia’s instructions, relayed by Dorothy, helped us write this recipe.
Start the murabba in the afternoon, let it sit for several hours, and then boil it briefly before going to sleep. Finish it in the morning. The same recipe can be used with peaches (quarter them) and sour cherries (pit them), though very fragile types of fruit, like blueberries, tend to fall apart. Green walnut, diced pumpkin, and diced eggplant murabba are also common, but they require adding lye.
If you like to make preserves as gifts, you can put up murabba like jam and other fruit preserves in four 8 oz [240 ml] mason jars by following guidelines for water-bath processing jams available from sources such as Food in Jars (foodinjars.com). If water-bath processing, use new lids and clean jars and ensure that both the murabba and the jars are hot before filling them. When filling the jars, be mindful of air bubbles, which can get trapped below the fruit and syrup. Use a chopstick to gently move the contents of the jam around to release the air. Save leftover syrup to sweeten Kompot (page 221) or drizzle over fresh fruit.
Makes about 1 qt [960 g], with extra syrup
4 cups [800 g] granulated sugar
1 cup [240 ml] water
2 lb [910 g] apricots, halved and pitted
1 lemon, for zesting
DAY ONE In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water over medium-high heat until the sugar melts, about 5 minutes.
Place the apricots in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Either grate the lemon over the apricots with a Microplane rasp or use a vegetable peeler to make strips of zest and add them to the pot. Pour the sugar syrup over the apricots and zest, ensuring that all of the pieces are coated. Place a plate directly on top of the fruit to keep the pieces submerged and prevent them from turning brown. Cover the pot for 4 to 6 hours so the fruit can macerate, releasing some of its juices.
Remove the plate, bring the pot to a boil, and then turn the heat off. Do not stir the pot, but shake it if necessary to ensure the fruit is evenly distributed. Let the pot cool, cover, and let sit overnight.
DAY TWO The next morning, uncover and bring the apricots back to a boil, skimming and removing some foam from the top with a ladle to prevent the pot from bubbling over, but do not stir the pot—only shake it if necessary. Meanwhile, place a plate in the refrigerator to chill.
Continue to boil the apricots until the liquid has thickened to a light syrup consistency, like a true maple syrup or agave sweetener. The syrup will still look quite thin while hot, so test it by spooning some of the syrup onto the chilled plate. If it holds its shape (and looks thicker than water), it’s done.
Turn off the heat and get a clean 1 qt [960 ml] mason jar or four 8 oz [240 ml] mason jars ready. Carefully ladle the apricots and syrup into the jar and leave it out, uncovered, until cooled to room temperature. If using strips of zest, you can tuck the lemon zest into the jars or discard them. Serve the murabba spooned onto a small plate to eat alongside tea, or spoon on top of yogurt. The murabba will keep for 6 to 7 months in the refrigerator.