Q&A with Julia Masters of Jim and Jules jam
MY STORY HAS A ROMANTIC START. I started making chutney to fund my wedding to Jim. His family are farmers while I was working in an office. We didn't have enough money to get married so Jim hatched a plan to make and sell chutney. While his mum and dad were away, we picked the apples from their tree and invented our Scrummy Apple Chutney - Jim booked us into Tring Farmers Market, while I looked into rules and regulations. We worked weekends alongside our normal jobs. We'd be excited to sell 25 jars at the market and loved the community spirit of stallholders, producers and customers. I particularly loved the simplicity of the process: make something delicious, meet someone lovely who buys a jar and hopefully they come back again for another. After 18 months, we did manage to fund most of our wedding but most of all it gave us a great foundation of working and building something together. Our wedding reception was at the farm in a stable with the apple tree in view. Two years ago, Jim built me a larger kitchen at the farm and our next big project is to convert our wedding reception stable into our family home.
OUR BUSINESS HAS GROWN SUSTAINABLY. We’ve been lucky to develop organically and slowly to fit in with our lives. After our wedding in 2009 we carried on selling chutney at the weekend. We started our family in 2011 and I didn't go back to my "proper job". I worked part-time around our two daughters, at home, and started to build a range. Next came farm shop supply which morphed into making some white label products for places like No 2 Pound Street in Wendover, as well as selling our own range in places like the Woodworks. Jim designs the labels and is in charge of all-things tech, I head up the kitchen. We’ve just launched our own online shop and count Michelin-starred local chefs as fans but we’ll always stay true to our family apple tree roots.
MY FAVOURITE JAM EXISTS BECAUSE OF THE W. Kim asked me to make our Jamtastic Chilli Jam to serve in dishes at The W but it proved such a hit that Jim designed the labels so that we could sell it in its own right. I love it because it's completely different to any other chutney. The taste is fresh and sweet and goes with almost everything, from salty halloumi to burgers.
THE SECRET TO BERRY JAM IS SIMPLE. If lockdown has got you cooking up a storm and you fancy having a go but haven’t done it before, try my three straightforward starter’s tips. Use the very best fruit you can, make sure your jars are sterilised and filled when hot, plus try raspberry first - it’s far easier than strawberry.
Many thanks to Nathalie Aubry of Kitchen Conversations for kindly allowing us to use her beautiful photos from the farm