Les Poissonchats

Do you know the tale of Seven-at-One-Stroke? It begins with a meek little tailor who, one day, cut himself a splendid slice of bread, buttered it generously, and heaped it with jam. Just as he opened his mouth to take a bite, the seven pesky flies that had pestered him all afternoon and wouldn’t let him sew a straight seam – landed on his slice and got themselves stuck.

With a single swat, the little tailor killed all seven at once.

The moment changed him. His meekness fell away, and he stitched himself a bold belt bearing the proud words: Seven at One Stroke. From that point on, the name wasn’t a boast but his identity, and it marked the beginning of a whirlwind journey full of unlikely triumphs, near-impossible challenges, and, naturally, in the end the princess.

If I were him I’d have opted for boozed blackberry jam, so this one is for you to keep for summer (it will invariably come, as unlikely as it may seem now):

What you’ll need

• 1-2kg of handpicked forest blackberries, the small ones that taste of sun and life and undergrowth
• Half its weight in sugar
• A dash of mirabelle eau de vie

How you cook it

Place the blackberries with the sugar in a pot and heat, bring to a boil, cook for half an hour or an hour. You ought to stay close to it and stir regularly in order to keep it from burning or boiling over. To know when the jam will be good and set do the following: Drop a dollop of jam on a cold porcelain dish, place it in the freezer for two minutes. If it is still too runny, continue cooking.

Once the jam is good, take off the heat and add a generous dash of eau de vie. It’ll hiss and spit and boil up so be careful.

Fill hot into clean jars, sterilise in the oven at 180°C for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn around and let cool. Keep in a dry and dark spot.

How to eat it

Well, there’s people who won’t need bread or butter to eat boozed blackberry jam, just saying…

*This is Les Poissonchats Wondrous Advent Calendar! Advent calendars are a big tradition where I come from: every day until Christmas Day you prepare a small gift for a loved one, fourandtwenty little surprises. Advent calendars come in beautifully old fashioned prints on cardboard, extra glitter and glory, and each day there’s a little perforated window waiting for you be opened. Others are more elaborate, pretty baskets filled with twenty four numbered parcels, red velvet ribbons and sprigs of fir. The one I’m making for you this season is a different one altogether, it comes in digital form. Unless specially marked, all content is hand-stitched by myself, lovingly compiled and written for your amusement.