Moskonfyt is not a family product for a farmer’s son who grew up in the Bushveld. It’s a great breakfast treat if you butter the toast, put the jam on top and let it sit on the crispy toast for a while. The must jam leaves a sweet and sour taste in the mouth, which I love. I came back to Gauteng after my business trip and could not find this product in any of the stores. Needless to say, during follow-up visits I brought some home to enjoy. Eighteen years later, I rediscovered this delicacy on a trip to the Western Cape with my family.
Moskonfyt or grape must jam is a mixture of fermenting pressed grape juice, skin, seeds and pulp, reduced to a light syrup. Making grape must jam is a long and tedious process. The best tasting grape must jam I have tasted is cooked for a long period of time over open wood fires. These traditional cooks use blue gum tree wood from the farm for fires. This particular brand of Moskonfyt is sugar-free and preservative-free, making it a unique and healthy treat. Use bottled light syrup in the following ways:
- Breakfast: The best way I tasted this delicacy is on crispy toast or freshly baked bread fresh from the oven. Leave the jam on the toast for a minute or two. The Moskonfyt soaks into the bread to form a sweet and sour crispy soggy slice that lingers in the mouth after eating.
- Replace traditional maple syrup with Moskonfyt and enjoy it on French toast.
- Enjoy this artisan delight with ice cream and apple crumble, pancakes, pears or waffles.
- Vinaigrette: ideal vinaigrette with fresh vegetables and salad.
- Glaze: Mix the Moskonfyt with Sherry vinegar and use as a Gammon or Duck glaze.
- Sauces: Sherry vinegar and Moskonfyt also provide a perfect glaze when used with duck or in a monkey acorn sauce.
- Fish dish stew: Moskonfyt goes well with most fish dishes (basting). A specific example is Snoek’s fall. My Snoek tumble by simply heating a little oil in a frying pan, fry potato blocks for 10 minutes. Add coriander, tomato, Snoek and lemon juice, season to taste and enjoy with freshly baked bread and Moskonfyt.
Rediscovering Moskonfyt on our family holidays is more than just eating jam on crispy toast. I introduced this to my eight year old daughter and it was a special moment – she is a swimmer and she is always looking for something to snack on and as a swimmer mom I am always looking for healthy snacks for our swimmer to eat.
There are some health attributes in grape must jam. Researching on the subject, I discovered that the Turks use this product as molasses. Every student who goes to school receives a spoonful each morning to provide them with their daily dose of healthy nutrients and antioxidants. So it’s not a bad idea to serve Moskonfyt as a snack for swimmers who burn more than 3,500 calories per hour, depending on their training schedule.
Buy Moskonfyt as a gift. Our neighbors took care of our dogs during our trip and we bought him some as gifts. It’s debatable why not many of the farm stands on the west coast stock Moskonfyt – we discovered this driving from stall to stall looking to buy it as a gift for my neighbor. However, we ended up going back to the original stall where we bought the first bottle to buy another as a gift.
Our family returned from the Cape after our vacation and I can’t find any Moskonfyt in KwaZulu-Natal. We definitely have to buy a bottle or two when we visit Granny again!