Taste Test: Pickles, BBQ sauce and plum jam

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Oct 1st 2007 @ 7:32PM

After reading that title, you might be wondering what unifying force could be bringing pickles, barbecue sauce and plum jam together under the same heading. The thing they have in common is that they are all made by the folks at We Love Jam, the same artisan producers who made the Blenheim apricot jam I wrote about last month.

It might seem a little incongruous that a company that includes jam in their name is making items that do not qualify as a fruit preserve. However now that I've had a taste of some of these other products, I'm thrilled that they decided to branch out. The world needs more companies that make food the way that they do, with care, attention to detail and a whole lot of quality ingredients. In addition to their amazing apricot love-in-a-jar, they also produce a spicy deep purple Mariposa jam, a tangy, kicky barbecue sauce and some balanced, crisp bread and butter pickles.

Of these three products, I have to spend a little time telling you how good this barbecue sauce is. When I was in high school, my dad had a friend who made barbecue sauce from his father's recipe. It had depth, with a perfect balance of sweet and spice. My father was such a big fan of Mr. Brown's sauce that he actually made a small investment in the company, primarily so that he could get his hands on a plenitude of the sauce. Such easy access to Mr. Brown's sauce ruined me for commercial sauces and I haven't found anything that lived up until this sauce from We Love Jam appeared in my life. I now look for excuses to eat it, slathering it on roasted chicken and making a small pool of it on the side of a plate of scrambled eggs. It's going to be a sad day when that little jar is empty.

Filed Under: Raves & Reviews, New Products
Tags: artisan products, Barbecue Sauce, Blenheim apricot jam, bread and butter pickles, Mariposa Plum Jam, We Love Jam, WeLoveJam