Turkish Pumpkin Jam - Pol's Gurme Çıtır Candied Pumpkin Spread, 285g

This is the Turkish breakfast jam that tastes like candied pumpkin, because that is essentially what it is. Pol's Gurme cooks down at least 65% pumpkin with apple juice and a little lemon juice until the slices turn soft, glossy, and amber, then leaves some pieces with a gentle candied bite - the "çıtır" (crunchy) part of its name. The result is a chunky, spoonable spread rather than a smooth paste, somewhere between a jam and the classic Turkish kabak tatlısı pumpkin dessert. What sets it apart is the pumpkin itself. The variety used is Adapazarı white chestnut pumpkin (Adapazarı beyaz kestane balkabağı), a winter squash grown in the Sakarya region of northwest Turkey and carrying a registered Turkish geographical indication as a protected designation of origin. It is a denser, drier, more segmented squash than ordinary field pumpkin, which is exactly why it holds its shape and turns chestnut-sweet when slow-cooked. The jar keeps things honest: at least 65% pumpkin, apple juice, and lemon juice, with no preservatives and no additives. There is no added cane sugar in the ingredient list - the sweetness comes from the pumpkin's own sugars concentrated during cooking and from the apple juice, so it lands as a genuinely sweet preserve with a clean, fruit-and-squash flavour rather than a flat sugary one. It carries a vegan label and contains no animal ingredients. How to enjoy it: - Spread it over warm toast, simit, or fresh bread at breakfast - Spoon it onto pancakes, waffles, or plain yogurt - Pair it with a salty white cheese or kashar for a sweet-savoury plate - Use it as a filling or topping for cakes, tarts, and pastries - Eat it as it is, like a light candied-pumpkin dessert Net weight 285g. Because it relies on its own sugars rather than heavy preservatives, store the jar somewhere cool and dry; once opened, refrigerate it and finish it within about three weeks, using a clean dry spoon each time.