50525 Mon Jun 03 19:39:34 -0700 2002 2 2 Los Angeles Area 0 255680 I was in the Williams Sonoma in Beverly Hills and was impressed by the eclectic selection of condiments and unusual jellies and jams. I could not bring myself to pay $9.00 for a little jar of mango butter. Am I just cheap? I know about Surfas, but some of the things I saw in WS I have not seen anywhere else. Are there other stores that are equivalent but not so pricey? Or is this just the price of having exotic tastebuds? Mon Jun 03 19:39:34 -0700 2002 0 Elle 1 255685 Have you ever made jam? Real fruit can make the price rather high. Jam is more expensive than jelly and preserves most of all. A lot of commerical jams have a high percentage of sugar (cheap) and low percentage of fruit (expensive). You need a certain amount of sugar to jell and they usually have pectin. Some fancy or small brands will use apples in addition to the labelled fruit. It supplies the pectin. Many EU nations include the information on the label so you know what you are buying. So, in general, I splurge on jam. Some places that carry high quality jams include IKEA (they carry a number of imported fruit blends at good prices, various farmer's markets, Trader Joes has some good cherry preserves) etc. Poland, for instance, and many other Eastern European countries often have very good imports at a fraction of the French brands. You might want to try them. But no way are you getting a taste of my Aunt Sandy's apricot preserves. Mon Jun 03 20:30:30 -0700 2002 255680 0 JudiAU 1 255695 I really like a number of these Williams Sonoma offerings. They have (sometimes only on their website) a French peach jam that is wonderful, and their pear vanilla preserve is one of the wife's favorites. Also, they carry a very high quality Japanese soy sauce that is extraordinary, and I love the Mustafa's Moroccan olive oil they sometimes stock. Granted, none of these items are exactly bargains, but on a cost-per-use basis (one of my favorite ad hoc justifications for splurging), I don't think they're huge extravagances either. Also, we generally like to have a couple of small "mitbringsels" around in case we've invited to someone's home, and because they're a bit special and out of the ordinary, these Williams Sonoma treats fit the bill perfectly. (Excellent though they may be, sometimes TJ's just isn't the message one wants to convey). Mon Jun 03 21:56:55 -0700 2002 255680 0 David Kahn