My daily yogurt breakfast will never be the same now that I’ve discovered the preserves from Dagstani & Sons, A Very Fine Fruit Company. My husband Ed and I subscribed to their “Jam Sessions” which is one of the ways to get their jams, marmalades and preserves delivered to your door.
Dagstani & Sons is not your ordinary jam. Comparing it to, say, Smuckers, is like comparing a Rolls-Royce to a Yugo.
Can’t do it.
Raj Dagstani, pictured above with his sons Emile (age 10) and Sebastian (age 5), was the general manager at New York’s famed Per Se restaurant for several years. He knows about quality and about the work, dedication and ingredients needed to produce food that is extraordinary, not just good, not simply satisfactory. He and his boys craft small-batch preserves every day from whole fruit, which they hand-cut, pare and peel. Most of the fruit comes from local sources and is organic, much of it wild-grown.
The first bite of Three Fruit Marmalade was one of those moments you remember when someone asks “what was the best … (whatever) … you ever ate?”
This was the best marmalade I ever ate.
I felt a rush of fresh citrus, a flash of sugar in my mouth. It was in perfect harmony to the very plain nonfat Chobani yogurt I always eat. The jam flowed over the yogurt, there was no weak, liquid-y trickle, nor did it have to be shaken off the spoon in a gloppy lump like most over-sugared or over-pectined stuff.
The flavors are creative and thoughtful — for example, these: Asian Pear and Star Anise, Meyer Lemon and Madagascar Vanilla Bean, Rhubarb and Red Hot Ginger (ohmyohmyohmy!!!!), Oranges and Earl Grey (SIGH).
You can’t get these anywhere else and they probably wouldn’t taste as good anyway.
Yes, these jams cost more than supermarket varieties, as they should. You don’t put this stuff on your kid’s PBJ sandwich. Dagstani preserves are for discriminating tastes, usually grown up.
Take a look at the site here. But do yourself a favor. If you like jam at all, try one. As I said, my breakfast yogurt will never be the same and neither will plain scones, English muffins, baguettes or homemade bread. I can’t wait to see what’s in our next order.