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Spoon sweets or preserves are a traditional Greek specialty served to quests in a crystal dish accompanied by a glass of cold water. The sweet is eaten with a teaspoon. The water is drunk and the teaspoon is placed in the glass. These sweets can be made out of an innumerable fruits, nuts, and vegetables. The list includes: baby eggplants, peel from bitter oranges, cherries, apricots, cherry tomatoes, pistachios, and watermelon rind--just to name of few. September is the month when the grapes are at their sweetest. They are harvested to be eaten fresh, dried to become raisins, fermented into wine, and simmered in syrup to become a spoon sweet. Ingredients: 3 pounds large green seedless grapes 4 cups of granulated sugar 1 cup water 2 TB lemon juice 2 teaspoons vanilla or 3-4 rose geranium leaves
Directions:
1. Choose firm grapes and remove their stems 2. Wash the grapes and drain them. 3. Place the water and sugar in a deep sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until a thick syrup has formed. *** If using a candy thermometer, the temperature much reach 230oF.
4. Remove pot from fire and add the grapes to the pot. Return pot to fire. Do not panic if the sugar solidifies, it will melt again as soon as it heats up. Continue stirring as you bring the mixture to a boil. Remove any foam. As soon as the syrup thickens (reaches a temperature of approximately 230o F ) add the lemon juice and the vanilla or the rose geranium leaves. Allow to come to a boil and then remove from heat.
5. After it cools, remove the leaves if they were used, and store in a clean jar. If kept refrigerated, it will keep for at least a year.
6. Serve as a spoon sweet or better yet use as a topping for vanilla ice cream.
***The traditional way to tell if the syrup is ready is to let a drop of syrup fall on a clean plate. If the drop holds its shape and doesn't run, then the proper consistency has been reached.
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