09 September 2014

Cooking, Alaska-Style: Mulled Wine Jelly

From the Alaska Dispatch News:



Löki Gale Tobin grew up canning salmon in Nome.


"My earliest memories are of processing our salmon catch," she said. "My father would go down to the Nome River, and he would seine and come back with 200 fish, that we would then gut and brine and can. And all winter long we would eat salmon." 

Eventually, she moved away from home and canning became more of a hobby, something to do for fun. Then, during a stint in the Peace Corps she recognized that most people in the world use some form of food preservation order to survive. By her second year in Azerbaijan, she reconnected with canning, and not just as a hobby, but for everyday sustenance.

"Tomatoes and cherries and greens, and berries and okra," said Tobin. "At the end of a season you were able to open up your cellar and look at all of the wonderful abundance that you had."

After three and a half years overseas, Tobin returned to Nome. Since then, it's been a challenge staying connected to the abundance Alaska has to offer, but Tobin makes the effort. She cans, shops at the farmers market, and experiments with unique combinations in her canning that she shares with friends. Rhubarb barbecue sauce and white wine herb jelly are just a couple of the delicious items in Tobin's cupboard that are uniquely her own.

This mulled wine jelly recipe was inspired by a recipe on Serious Eats. For helpful information on canning, Tobin suggests the University of Fairbanks Cooperative Extension and PickYourOwn.org.

Watch this video on Vimeo or YouTube, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos. Contact Tara Young at tara(at)alaskadispatch.com.

2 comments:

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Have you ever tried this jelly?
Looks interesting. Before setting the recipe up, I think a glass of wine needs to be consumed......whatcha think?

Rev. Paul said...

Sandy, we haven't tried it - I just stumbled across the recipe the other day.

Brigid always recommends a bottle for the cook, in addition to the bottle for the recipe, for what it's worth. :)