This fall I discovered the wild grapes growing in the area. Hidden behind their leaves they slowly ripened by the end of September. I gathered them twice. The ones available at first then the second batch ripened a bit later. For the first batch I used only the wild grapes but the second time I purchased some Concord grapes that were also grown in the area but were not wild.
The process is simple though labor-centric. First pick the grapes off the branches and leaves. Then wash well several times. Put into a large stainless pot cover with water, some sugar but not nearly as much as you will find in recipes. I use Organic cane sugar. I also added some 'secret' ingredients like a few scrapings of fresh ginger and nutmeg. Boil until most of the liquid has cooked off and the grapes have thickened. There is a tricky spot that occurs where you know it is done. The liquid starts bubbling and spitting. Be very careful at that point that it doesn't burn.
Let the mixture cool. Taste it to see if it needs more sugar. Add the sugar in small quantities. I like to make it tart, sweet but not so that the sweetness is the first thing you notice. After it cools strain it all through a Tamis or other strainer, pushing it through the screening. You are eliminating the many seeds and skin.
(I took some of the skin/seed mixture and coated goat cheese with it to great success. The seeds of the wild grapes are not very hard but the ones from the Concord grapes are.)
There is just this one photo of the wild and Concord grapes cooking. You can see that the wild grapes are much smaller:
Take the strained jam and put into jars that have been sterilized. Give to friends. You can tell them where the wild grapes are growing but they don't find them. Good luck.
I'll be uploading some past menus soon. They are very varied. You'll see.
