Autumn is the time of the year that Arazoles, also white Hawthorne, are picked and prepared. Arazoles are a small dark yellow fruit found all over the island, growing in the wild on bushy trees. It is actually not eaten as such, but used to make jam with it (jelly). It is said that it has some health benefits like for the heart, blood and blood pressure, but also for stomach pains, personally I do not know any details, but generally it is known to be beneficial. Here on the island it is called Mosfilo and this name will be used in the recipe. It is quite simple to prepare, it takes a little time, but absolutely worth it and pleasurable as the kitchen will fill with the beautiful aroma whilst cooking the fruit. Preferably eaten on buttered toast in the morning and also used as a gluing filling between two biscuits, which recipe will follow real soon.
Ingredients
2 kg Mosfilo fruit.
sugar: equal amount with the clear juice after cooking the fruits. p.e. 1 liter juice: 1kg sugar.
lemon juice from 1 Cyprus lemon. Lemons from Cyprus have a much stronger taste than other lemons.
4 liter water.
Method
Cut of the stalks with a sharp knife.
Cut of the bottom of the fruit.
Place the fruit in a large cooking pot and add plenty of water.
Bring to the boil and cook on low to medium heat until the fruit softens well. This will take 2 to 2.5 hours. Press with a large spoon the fruits against the wall of the cooking pot in order to break them even more and juices and flesh are cooked well.
Pass the fruit and cooking juices through a colander above a large bowl. Press the fruits with a large spoon in order to get the maximum of juices out of the fruits. With this juice the jelly is prepared. Dispose of the fruit.
The juice needs to be filtered, in order to get a clean juice it is necessary to pass it through a fine cloth spread over a fine sieve. Any residue will remain in the cloth. This may cause the cloth to clot and the juice will take time to pass through. If the cloth is big enough then it can be moved over the sieve so the procedure will go a little faster.
Measure the juice, for each cup of juice a cup of sugar is added. 10 cups juice: 10 cups sugar. (2.5 liter juice: 2.5 kg sugar)
Pour the pure and filtered juice in a large cooking pot, add sugar and the lemon juice. Bring slowly to the boil.
As it starts boiling, foam will form on the top and this needs to be removed. With the help of a skimmer scoop the foam of the juice. It may be necessary to do this a few times.
Slowly slowly the juice will get thicker. To see whether the jelly is ready and it is at its right consistency, take a spoon full of the jelly and pour it on a small plate. The plate can be placed in the fridge first, when the plate is cold the jelly will settle sooner. Once cooled completely, take a spoon and push the jelly, when wrinkles appear, the jelly is ready. Repeat this test when necessary.
After 1 to 1.5 hour the Mosfilo jam is ready.
Sterilize the jars and their lids in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain on a clean kitchen cloth.
Fill the jars with the jelly, close them well with their lid and turn them up side down and leave to stand like this for 10 minutes. Then turn back up. The lids will pop vacuum as the jelly starts to cool down. Write the date on small labels and clue on the bottom of the jars. Can be stored up to 4 years!
Once opened the jelly can be stored in a kitchen cabinet, not in the fridge.
Enjoy! - Καλή όρεξη!