Sitting across the kitchen table from each other, at opposite ends of the same cutting board, Rebecca Porrata and Suzanne d’Coney are making apricot jam and chutney together as they have for 20 years. Trays and boxes of apricots, spaced so they aren’t touching, are scattered around the living room to ripen. On one side of the cutting board, a big bowl holds weighed apricots and another the pitted halves. Two smaller bowls hold pits and bruised spots.
Rebecca grew up in Southern California with an apricot tree in her backyard, where she and her five sisters ate the fruits straight off the tree. When she bites into an apricot, she is looking for that taste and memory. Suzanne became enamored with the apricot—and even more with apricot jam and how it pairs with fine cheeses and nuts—through Kay Baumhefner, a chef who taught cooking classes in Petaluma.
They have been friends since their children were in preschool together, but they didn’t start canning until their kids were grown. While halving and pitting, they catch up on their lives and things happening in their community. Their banter is supportive and fun, but they’re serious about their task and, as they talk, the bowl of whole apricots empties as the one for halves fills.
Rebecca worked as a psychiatric nurse before moving to West Marin. Once there, she obtained additional credentials and became a public health nurse for Latinos in local schools. She is retired but remains a family and social justice advocate in the community. She is currently a mediator for West Marin Community Mediation, a free community-based conflict resolution service. In her free time, she is an avid knitter, cook and reader.
Suzanne arrived in West Marin as a young woman from Brooklyn in the late 1970s with no plan to stay, but she never left. She presently runs The Point Reyes Sanctuary, which brings front-line organizers to West Marin for weeklong retreats to recharge and heal from their demanding profession. She is also a freelance administrator and events planner and writes the Light’s calendar.
Once apricots begin to appear in late spring, the two women quickly focus: Apricot season is short and extends only a few weeks into summer. Their preferred variety is the Blenheim, but it can be hard to source. Blenheims were once the most popular apricot in California, but many growers have switched to less fragile varieties that ship better. For years, Rebecca and Suzanne got theirs from a ranch outside Vacaville until a wildfire destroyed the property (there’s still hope the apricot tree there will come back). They would pick them up in a fast-food parking lot on the side of the highway from musician friends on their way to a gig or arrange to have them delivered to Inverness by kids eager to make the trip with their surfboards in exchange for gas money.
These days, the two women scout out apricots before committing. At farmers’ markets, they thoughtfully nibble on samples, and at food stores without freebies, they’ll purchase a couple of apricots, sit outside on a curb, and evaluate. They’ve found apricots on Craigslist and by word of mouth. This year, they purchased their Blenheims from Full Belly Farm, which sells them at farmers’ markets around the region.
Rebecca and Suzanne make the same recipes each year. The chutney recipe is from Michele Anna Jordan’s book, “The Good Cook’s Book of Oil and Vinegar.” There’s no longer any need to look for the right page, as the book flops open to the recipe. Rebecca’s handwritten notes, a record of yield and pounds of apricots used, fill blank spaces on the pages. Suzanne got the jam recipe from Kay and adds a few small pieces of chopped apricot kernels to each jar for their sweet almond essence.
At the end of their annual endeavor, Rebecca and Suzanne each have 70 jars of jam and chutney. They’re sure to take a moment to admire their finished work and each year have a photograph taken of them surrounded by their jars. Most of the jam and chutney they give away to friends throughout the year. To label her jars, Suzanne randomly chooses a rubber stamp from her collection. Rebecca doesn’t bother.
For the chutney, they like to chop the non-apricot ingredients the day before. It staggers the work so it’s not such a marathon on canning day. The chutney is well balanced and full of fresh fruit flavor. Some years, Rebecca will try to sneak in a few more red pepper flakes while Suzanne is seemingly distracted with jars from the canner. She usually gets caught.
Apricot Chutney
By Rebecca Porrata and Suzanne d’Coney, adapted from Michele Anna Jordan
3 heads of garlic
5 jalapeño peppers, more if desired
5 ounces fresh ginger
5 pounds (preferably Blenheim) apricots, halved and pitted
2 1/2 pounds sugar
1 pound currants
Approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili flakes
3 cups apple cider vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
Peel the garlic cloves and chop in a food processor or by hand. Seed the jalapeños and slice into very thin juliennes. Peel the ginger and chop in a food processor or grate by hand.
In a large nonreactive heavy-duty pot, combine the apricots and sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the remaining ingredients except for the red pepper flakes and stir well. Add a couple of teaspoons of the red pepper flakes, wait a few minutes, and then taste. If you want more heat, add more in increments, wait and taste again. In Rebecca and Suzanne’s experience, different batches of chili flakes have differing amounts of heat.
Simmer over low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally, more as the mixture thickens.
Pour the hot chutney into hot sterilized jars and process in a water bath for 15 minutes. If you don’t want to can the chutney, you can store it in the refrigerator, where it will last for many months.