Holyart natural jams: tasty, simple and genuine

Natural jams are guarantee of quality and genuineness. In a world torn between junk food and the obsession for organic food, where can we find real natural products?

In a world where genuineness has become a matter of health rather than taste, more and more people turn to natural and organic markets, hoping to guarantee themselves and those they love the simplest and not chemically treated food.

Definitions such as ‘strictly natural handcrafting’, ‘without preservatives’ and ‘grandma’s recipes’ immediately convey a feeling of health end evoke authentic flavors of the past. In every city there are more and more shops and even supermarkets where we can buy organic food, but also natural food supplements and cosmetics, all made with controlled ingredients and checked by companies that made this return to natural their trademark. We can also find organic food markets every week, which provide zero mile products in the cities, fresh eggs from the countryside, cheese, bread and biscuits, meat, fruit and vegetables produced by farms nearby, and even some services that bring a wide choice of short chain products directly to your home, at very affordable prices.

In such scenery, which is spreading every day more and more, also natural jams and organic marmalades are very sought-after. These jams, marmalades and fruit compotes are produced exclusively with fruits coming from natural and organic certified farms, which guarantee only products that are not chemically treated and worked according to strict traditional methods, without preservatives.

Before we go on, we would like to remind you that the word marmalade only refers to the one made of citruses (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit and lemon), while all other types of fruit or vegetables are called jams.

The production of organic jams comes from a right balance between innovation and research on one side, and taste for tradition and artisanship on the other.

How do organic jams and marmalades need to be, in order to be good, sugarless organic jams?

First, we need to pay attention to the raw material: fruit. Fruit plantations are indeed susceptible to various factors, from the technique to the possible use of chemical fertilizers, or more or less natural fungicides. Even in this case, we need to find a good compromise between tradition and innovation. Organic agriculture imposes the respect for Nature and biodiversity, machineries must guarantee the right amount of water to plantations without wasting any of it, the exclusive use of organic fertilizers, the protection of fruit trees from insects must be done with nets rather than with chemical products. In addition, fruit must be harvested when it has reached the right degree of ripeness, maybe with different timings.

pie

The Pie: sweetness and devotion
The pie is an ancient dessert, but still very much appreciated by everyone, especially when it is filled with quality jams and marmalades.

After the harvest, there is the working. Usually, fruit cooking requires high temperatures; if we want to obtain an organic and natural jam we should opt for a low temperature cooking instead, because it respects the nutritional values and preserves the precious elements of the fresh fruit. The right temperature is between 50° and 60°C (120°-140° F), which allows to preserve colors and taste of fresh fruit, without altering its precious properties.

Furthermore, the working of organic jams and marmalades establishes the elimination of emulsifying agents such as pectin, or any other type of emulsifying unless they are natural and derived from plants.

For what concerns the sweetening process, sugarless organic jams, such as grape or apple juice, should be preferred or any other fruit natural sugar, without sucrose.

Where can we buy organic jams online?

Besides the many possibilities of shops, organic supermarkets and zero mile markets, today we can turn to online shops. In the best online stores, we can find jams, marmalades and fruit compotes made by monks and nuns in ancient convents and monasteries. We are talking about very high quality products, which are also tasty, simple and genuine, worked following traditional methods and without additives nor chemical substances. The attention of monks and nuns focuses mainly on health rather the clients’ satisfaction, but their 100% organic jams and marmalades are also very very good!

The monks of Camaldoli are one of the most famous and eye-opening examples of how some orders were able to add a constant work to their prayers and contemplative lives; with time, it originated the production of organic food, such as candies, fruit juices, honey, oil but even health and beauty cures, organic food supplements and body products.
Since the origins of the order, the Benedictine monks in Camaldoli voted their existence to the rule “Ora et labora“. Hence, the life of monks in the monastery has been equally divided between daily work and prayers throughout centuries. Their products are popular and sold all over the world even and especially thanks to the online stores.

The-Camaldolese-Congregation-of-the-Order-of-St.-Benedict

The Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of St. Benedict
The Order of St. Benedict covers all autonomous monasteries and congregations who live according to the rule established by St. Benedict.

Another example of such ethic are the Trappist Nuns of Vitorchiano.
Trappist Nuns of Vitorchiano are a community under the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. Their order as well follows the rule by Saint Benedict. They are about seventy women of all ages, who live a simple existence in community based on faith, prayers and hand working. Since the 70s, these nuns have been producing 25 different types of jams and marmalades following traditional methods. Their recipe is ancient and secret, and dictates a completely natural working with a high percentage of fruit and total absence of additives, pectin or colorants. They are then absolutely healthy and high quality jams and marmalades. Trappist Nuns of Vitorchiano’s jams and marmalades are on sale at the monastery or in the best organic jams online stores.

The marmalades of Saint Anthony of Padua are also very famous; they are made artisanally with fresh Italian and seasonal fruit, of course with artisanal methods. Saint Anthony of Padua’s jams and marmelades are produced in the Paduan lands. Many are the available flavors, from the classic ones to more exotic ones, such as pineapple; many flavors recall ancient fruits, such as mulberries, jujube, quince pears and Marzemino grapes. Many flavors, all healthy and tasty, which we can easily find in the best online jam stores.