Actually, Holly, many international chefs use marmalades and jams in their cooking as well as fruity syrups. They also use copious amounts of alcoholic beverages too and you'd never know any of these ingredients were in the dish served. I've eaten all over the continent and on one occasion asked a French chef what made the meat so delicious and he told me that a little bit of fruit and wine go a very long way. That was it. When my cousin came home from LaRusse Gastronomique Chef's School in Paris, he taught me many tricks in cooking.
Like I mentioned @Lois Winters unless restaurants / pubs mention on menu what dishes contain in allot of cases you don’t know what you are eating ..my much older sisters son is a fully qualified chef / teacher he has said when you eat anything that has a sauce of any description ( that includes stews ) you don’t realise just how much sugar / fats you are consuming . Watch any cooking show to see just how much butter is used in allot of dishes , (lots) chefs openly say it gives the sauce a nice glossy appearance Marinades are often used cover up / sweeten meats that should be binned , as well as covering up warmed up reused leftovers . In most cases these sauces contain allot of jams / bbq sauce / marmalade’s I didn’t watch YouTube instructions how odd to cook something then admit you made an error
yes I do know that chefs use fruit in their cooking but I have never known a quality chef to use a sugar preserve in Beef Stew!!!!...
Whether to add jam to any sauce, probably depends on the palette of the person(s) eating it. Such as, I put a teaspoon of sugar in my spaghetti sauce to make it taste less tomatoe-y.
It’s interesting you call a marmalade a sugar preserve , Holy .... marmalade is no different to other jams./ preserves ..IMO apricot / plum / what ever type of fruit you use they are all made the same sugar and fruit ... However you add some water to mix when making marmalade where you don’t with other soft fruits that’s due to citrus not being ad mushy as stone fruits ,it takes longer to break down however in the end after the water evaporates they are all just sugar and fruit I’ve made heaps in my life, living in a major fruit growing area I don’t do it so much now days I used to make huge batches and give it to charities ...now you have to label everything what’s in it , when it was made , use by date ...all to hard ..so many with food allergies out there now days .. let them buy from shop is my motto ... https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/seville_orange_marmalade/ https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/222949/apricot-jam/ jelly is usually made using apples or quinces cooked and strained through a cheese cloth
"they DO make the food just the way that Lon Tanner prefers it; so that is the important thing" Keep in mind he is snapping the photo with a handheld phone of some kind, without perfect lighting, perfect staging, angles etc that Pros use to photograph food.. I seriously doubt it is all as overcooked as it might seem to appear to be.
I put a tiny bit of sugar in anything tomato based too...not a whole teaspoon however... but I wouldn't dream of putting jam or marmalade in it...
I can honestly say that, until I moved into this facility, I never heard of a tuna melt. Hope I never hear of it again.