A Family recipe handed from generations past...

The French name means "Bachelors' Preserve" (litt."Old Boy's Jam"), for it probably only takes time and silent slicing, and lonely time is what bachelors are supposed to have plenty of...

... or is it because bachelors have a greater inclination to consume said beverage instead of their morning jam and toast ?

It is an adult dessert as much as it is a drink, and best enjoyed after dinner, in delicate sherry glasses. It is served with a ladle, wine and fruits together. The embarrassment of not knowing how to fish out the pieces of fruit without making too much of a mess is part of the pleasure...

The ideal bottle is a tall dark-green glass jar, a good foot across, with a wide opening on the top closed with a very large cork wrapped in a thick white piece of cotton cloth.

This wine is the result of a year of work, the four seasons bottled for the pleasure of all to taste. Throughout the year, as the best fruits of the season become available, they are carefully chosen, washed, diced or sliced if they are big, and put into the jar in regular layers, each layer being topped off with a little brown sugar and completely covered with a good fruit liqueur. Try to avoid fruits that would be mashed too easily, or would dissolve and make a mess (banana, etc.). Only European fruits were available when this recipe was invented, but exotic additions are worth a try.

Many variants exist, as well as other fruit-preserved-in-alcohol drinks, like the Rumtopf¹, or the "cerises à l'eau de vie" (preserved cherries) celebrated by Alphonse Daudet.

Four Seasons in a Jar

It all started in Spring, with the first fruits of the year. Plums, wild strawberries and the like.

Summer then brought its bounties, filling up more than half of the space with delicate berries, cherries, peaches and apricots, and all their sisters and brothers, children of the Sun.

Later, in early Autumn, grape and sliced apples and pears.

On the very top, the last gifts of the Earth before she goes to sleep for a long Winter : nuts, almonds, and dried figs and dates from countries where the Winter is a dream.

In the dark months, they will absorb some of the flavours of the past seasons, and add their rich and sweet fragrance to the bottle that is now corked tight and will await next Spring in the cool protection of the cellar.

Have a try !