This typical spanish recipe, consists of heating the wort of grapes to caramelize its own sugars, that is, the fructose. Since the grape is very rich in fructose, the result is so sweet that can replace the sugar not losing any sweetness.
Once the natural sugars of the wort have caramelized, we proceed to add pumpkin or melon, nuts, raisins, figs to give a solid consistency to the product. You can add large whole pieces to consume as a dessert or make the fruits in small pieces to spread on the bread. To make this arrope we are going to use typical autumn products.
INGREDIENTS :
- 2 liters (4.2 cups) of wort (obtained from 2.5 / 3 Kg of black grapes, 5.5/6.6 pounds)
- The skin of 4 or 5 oranges
- 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of pumpkin
- 200 grams (7 oz) of dried figs
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of walnuts
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of seedless raisins
- 1 cinnamon stick
You can buy the wort but it is preferable to make it from grapes that we have purchased since it is very easy to obtain wort using a blender. White grape must can be made but the yield is lower.
Using a blender we get 2 liters (8.4 cups) of wort. We bring it to a simmer and cook it until it is reduced by half, preventing it from boiling. It is a slow process whose mission is to caramelize the sugars in the liquid.
Once it has been reduced to half we add the orange peels without the white part - which is bitter - and the cinnamon stick. We let it do for 10 minutes. This process is used to flavor the syrup.
Now is the time to add the pumpkin cut into 1 cm (less that half an inch) cubes, the dried figs, the raisins and the walnuts broken into two or three pieces. Now we are not interested in losing liquid, so we will cover the casserole and let it cook until the pumpkin softens. By then it will have acquired, like the rest of the fruit, a very dark red almost black color. The wort will have thickened enough but if we want it even thicker we can mix it with a tablespoon of flour or cornflour (not usually necessary).
It is served as a dessert or, if you have cut the fruit very small, to spread on the bread. It is an excellent snack for children because it does not contain more sugar than the fruit itself.
