I grew up in the Niagara Region, an area known for a microclimate that produces an abundance of fruit. Grapes in particular are kind-of a big deal there, even more-so now that the wine industry has taken off. Even before the industry got big there was an annual festival to commemorate the harvest. The festival included costume parades for kids and on more than one occasion I dressed up as a bundle of grapes. Donning a purple short set, purple tights, purple balloons, and a pair of roller skates (it was the early eighties after-all), I joined kids from across the region to parade through the streets in celebration of a fruit I had never even tasted. Powdered purple drink and candy treats offered up a notion of what grapes were supposed to be and it’s likely that I’d tasted seedless California varieties once or twice. However, I had no first-hand experience with this thing that was growing abundantly about a mile from my front door.

When I think back on my early grade school years, it comes as no surprise that the nature, plant, and food day trips stand out most prominently in my memory. One such trip was to a local fruit farm to learn about grapes.

I can still remember walking up and down the rows of dark concords, trying to position myself strategically so that I would be one of the lucky few chosen to taste a grape right off of the vine. Later, they served us styrofoam cups of the dark, thick liquid. I could not believe what I was tasting. It was rich and deep with a frothy foam on top. It was strong. It made my throat feel slightly dry. It went straight to my head. I wanted more.

I never forgot that experience at the grape farm. Years later, once I had a part time job and the ability to make choices about what I drank and ate, I often chose real, bottled grape juice over other more popular options at the convenience store. The trouble is that big brand concord grape juices are preserved with sulphites. On their own sulphites don’t present any obvious affects, but in combination with nuts or seeds, it makes my throat swell and close up.

Consequently, I stopped drinking store-bought juice, but I never lost the taste for that particular grape. Each fall I purchase a basket of concords as soon as they come out. Some people don’t like the seeds or the peels and find the slow process of extracting the pulp from each grape is a pain and not worth the effort. I enjoy this process as a seasonal pleasure that only comes once per year. I often enjoy one small basket in this way and buy a few more baskets to make jelly, jam, or a small batch of juice to drink immediately.

The other day, someone in my neighbourhood placed giant bags full of Concords onto the curb with a FREE sign. I scooped up two, which amounted to around 12 pounds or so of organic grapes. What a score! With an abundance on hand I decided to splurge and make a big batch of juice, enough to preserve and enjoy months down the road.

Here’s how I made it…

RECIPE: Concord Grape Juice

I decided to can my juice unadulterated by sweeteners, but you are certainly free to add granulated sugar or honey to suit your taste preferences. I also kept the addition of water to a minimum as this concentrated juice is amenable to a wider range of uses at the time of serving. Use it to make cocktails and wine spritzers, or add it to a glass of still or sparkling water according to your taste preferences.

Ingredients:

• Concord grapes, washed and stemmed (no quantity as you can use this recipe for any amount)

Cook the grapes on medium heat until they are soft, about 20-30 minutes. About halfway through, crush them with a wooden spoon or potato masher so that the skins, seeds, and pulp are separated.

Place a mesh strainer/sieve or old fashioned chinoise over a deep pot or bowl and allow the juices to drip through. You may need to stir things up occasionally to get the juice flowing. You can leave this to sit overnight. I place a clean towel over top to keep fruit flies out.

Once the liquid has drained, you should have a bit of a slurry of seeds, skins and pulp left in the sieve. Put this back into the pot with a little water (no more than 1/2 a cup for a few pounds of grapes) and cook it on low heat. I do this to extract a little more flavour out of the flesh but you can skip this step if you can’t be bothered. Repeat the process of straining out the juice and add this to the original batch.

Line the strained with 4 layers of clean cheesecloth and strain the juice a second time. This will help to remove excess pulp and sediment from the juice. Optionally, set the juice in the fridge for a few hours so that the remaining sediment can settle to the bottom of the bowl. Slowly pour or ladle the juice from the top, being careful not to disturb the sediment.

Add the strained juice to a non-reactive cooking pot. Heat on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring to prevent it from sticking. Do not boil.

Pour or ladle the juice into sterilized pint-sized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace and heat-process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes. I use pint jars because this juice is quite concentrated and we can not drink more than this quantity fast enough. Once opened, store in the fridge and consume quickly.

Enjoy!!