Colman Andrews reads from The Taste of America This week: Mayhaw jelly

The celebrated food writer and Phaidon author Colman Andrews introduces us to "the cranberry of the South"

It's time for another of our readings from The Taste of America by its author, the acclaimed food writer Colman Andrews. Today Colman is talking about mayhaw jelly, a condiment made from a fruit that our writer helpfully characterises as “the cranberry of The South.”

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Like the cranberry, Colman explains, the mayhaw also grows in wetlands, though on trees rather than bushes. You can find these in East Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. Too acerbic to be eaten plain, the mayhaw has a pleasant tasting juice once suitably sweetened, and can also be turned into a jelly, if boiled, pressed and mixed with sugar and pectin.

Colman’s “textbook perfect” mayhaw jelly is made by The Mayhaw Tree company, in Miller County, Georgia. They harvest wild mayhaws, and cook them into a jelly, following a recipe that dates from the Civil War. Listen to Colman read his account in full above.

If you enjoy the reading please head to the store to check out the print version of his wonderful book; listen to some more readings (we have about five up here) or head here for the iBook version. Meanwhile, be sure to join Phaidon club to keep up to date with all that's going on in Phaidon world and get points to use against future purchases when you buy from the  phaidon.com store. Just click on the green button at the top of the page.