wild Berrys

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Earthpeace

Tenderfoot
Sep 4, 2006
75
0
39
France
Saw these berrys while picking wild grapes today. Anyone know what they are? Are they edible? Can you make jam out of them? I think A is hawthorn but I'm not sure. The berry has a single pip and white flesh. B also has a single pip but flesh like a cherry.
Any help would be great .Thanks


 

dave k

Nomad
Jun 14, 2006
449
0
47
Blonay, Switzerland
top one is hawthorne. You can make wine from the berries as well as eat the leaves like a salad.
Not sure about the jam - they are not poisonous, so I guess try mashing some up with a bit of sugar and see if you like the taste. if so, then yes make jam!

As for the other one, not sure..It's def. not rowan / mountain ash, leaves look like a sycamore or relative.. I'll have to look in me books at home to make sure.
 

led

Settler
Aug 24, 2004
544
5
uk
A: Hawthorne. Edible.
B: Guelder rose I think. Don't eat it, it's poisonous.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,992
4,645
S. Lanarkshire
Uhuh, I agree, Hawthorn and Guelder rose.
Hawthorn is kind of mealy when raw, it makes good teas though, especially when dried for winter use.
Guelder will cause gastric upset if eaten raw. You can eat a small handfull (usually) and be fine but any more and :( it's not a fun time. However, if cooked and used like cranberries, they're fine.

Cheers,
Toddy
 

led

Settler
Aug 24, 2004
544
5
uk
Interesting to hear about the edibility of the Guelder rose. One of my books definitely states 'poisonous', the other simply indicates it's not edible. I guess there's a fair amount of latitude in what that can mean.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,992
4,645
S. Lanarkshire
I think it's that *technically* the books are right, but in practice there is some leeway for folks. The main problem with this kind of thing is trying to ring fence the knowledge.........is it completely edible, will it cause no harm? Then the answer is No, and the books are correct, but if the question is changed a bit to.....Can I eat some of this? and not make myself ill? Then the answer is Yes, but with care.

Like spuds and rhubarb and curates eggs :D

Cheers,
Toddy
 
Aug 27, 2006
457
10
Kent
Top pic is of Hawthorn - Crataegus monogyna.

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Crataegus+monogyna

The berries are called haws. Here's some recipes I've got in my files for them:

Hawthorn Jelly
Ingredients

1 GALLON HAWS
WATER
SUGAR
Directions

WASH HAWS AND PLACE IN A 6-8 QUART POT.
BARELY COVER WITH WATER; SIMMER UNTIL SOFT.
STRAIN THROUGH A JELLY BAG.
MEASURE JUICE, PLACE IN POT, BRING TO A ROLLING BOIL.
SKIM OFF FOAM, AND ADD ¾ CUP SUGAR FOR EACH CUP OF JUICE.
STIR UNTIL SUGAR DISSOLVES, STIRRING CONSTANTLY; COOK UNTIL SYRUP SHEETS OFF SPOON.
SEAL IN HOT, STERILIZED JARS.
PROCESS IN BOILING WATER BATH FOR 10 MINUTES.

HAWTHORN BUTTER
4 POUNDS HAWS (TO YIELD 3 CUPS OF PULP)
1 QUART WATER
7 CUPS SUGAR
Cook Haws in the water until soft. Press through a sieve. Cook the strained sauce with sugar. Soon after boiling, it will flake rather than coat the spoon. Jar and seal. Process in boiling water 10 minutes.

A tart jelly made from hawthorn berries
Hawthorn berries, sugar and water. Some people call them haw berries.

As well as jelly, I read the fruit also makes a good liqueur. This could truly be used for medicinal purposes, as they are reportedly good for the heart. The recipe I read for this contained just the berries and vodka.

1.5kg ripe hawthorn berries (haws)
water
sugar
Wash the berries, then place in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Cook until they are very soft.

Place a colander over a large bowl and pour the mixture into this, breaking the fruit up with a potato masher or similar. Strain the resulting juice in the bowl through muslin.

Add 1 cup of sugar for each cup of this juice. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil vigorously until the setting point is reached. Pour into sterilised bottles and seal.


Hawthorn Berry Syrup

A wonderful syrup for pancakes can be made by simmering hawthorn fruit and hackberries (1 part fruit to 3 parts water). When the liquid is dark, strain and simmer down to half its original volume. Add sugar or honey to taste, and either store in the fridge or process in a canner at 10 pounds pressure for 15 minutes.

Hedge jelly
You need:
1 quantity elderberries
2 quantities crab apples
4 quantities haws (the berries of the hawthorn)
(Anne gathered about 700g haws, so we based our recipe on that amount.)

Wash the fruit, removing elderberries from their twigs with a fork, removing twigs from haws and chopping crab apples. Place all in a pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until soft (we left them for a couple of hours). Strain off the juice. “Proper” cookbooks will tell you not to squeeze the fruit but that’s for the purists. It gets you the clearest jelly but loses more of the fruit. Once the juice has strained, weight it and add the same amount of sugar (we had 920g juice so added 920g sugar). Bring it back to the boil and boil until it sets (I like a temperature of about 104 degrees C, which gives a nice soft jelly), then pour into clean, sterile jars.

Hedgerow Sandwiches

For a couple of weeks in March the hawthorn bushes start to sprout tiny leaves. Pick a few cupfuls carefully and use them in sandwiches as you would water cress, add a little freshly ground pepper and salt and even some grated cheese if you wish.

Haw sauce

1½ lb/750g haws
¾ pint/450ml vinegar
4 oz/100g sugar
1 oz/25g salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Strip the berries from their sprays and wash them. Put into a pan with the vinegar and cook over a gentl heat for 30 minutes. Press the pulp through a sieve and return to the pan with sugar and seasonings. Boil for 10 minutes. Bottle and seal.

This makes a delicious ketchup to go with rich meats, either hot or cold.

Hip soup (Swedish)

3 cups fresh rose hips or 2 cups dried hips
1½ tablespoons potato flour
1½ qts water
½ cup sugar
garnish with blanched almonds
Clean rose hips and put in vigorously boiling water. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, then strain, forcing hips through sieve. Measure out 1¾ qts of liquid thus obtained, adding cold water if needed. Return to kettle, add sugar and stir in potato flour. Bring to boiling point, stirring constantly. Pour into soup tureen and add shredded almonds. Serve cold with whipped cream and rusks.


Can't guarantee you'll llike the results, tho' they're not to everyone's tastes! Used to be called 'bread and cheese' by country children in our locality.

Bottom pic is of Guelder Rose - Viburnum opulus.

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Viburnum+opulus

Not really rated as a foodstuff, other than a famine food. I have two obscure Russian recipes for it:

Guelder-Rose Berry Drink - Bashkir cuisine
2 cups guelder-rose berries
3 tbsp sugar
1 liter boiled water Directions:
Clean berries, mince, pour with cold boiled water and let to infuse for 12 hours. Filter the drink and add sugar.

Guilder rose kissel
Ingredients:
100 g guelder rose berries
0.5 cupful sugar
2 tblsps potato flour

Directions:
Sort the fresh berries, wash, add some water, close with a lid and set aside for an hour. Then press the berries through a sieve, remove the stones, pour in hot water, add the sugar, mix and bring to a boil. Pour in the dissolved potato flour and bring to a boil again.

These two recipes are as yet untried so again I can't vouch for taste if you give them a go!

HTH :)
 

Earthpeace

Tenderfoot
Sep 4, 2006
75
0
39
France
Thanks for the recipes chickenofthewoods its kind of you to have spent the time to post them.

Thanks to you and others I see now that they are edible, I'm just going out to pick them now, there are lots of haws but I have only found one Guelder rose tree/shrub.
I think I will make a jelly with haws and apples as main Ingredients and I will add some figs, raspberrys and Guelder rose. I'll post you the end results.
I think i'll have a go at the Haw sauce as well. ;)

Keep posting :cool:
 
Aug 27, 2006
457
10
Kent
You're welcome. :)

I already had them in my files so it wasn't a problem.

My thanks to Espy for the two other recipes for guelder rose, I'll be adding them to my files for experimenting with too! :D
 

Earthpeace

Tenderfoot
Sep 4, 2006
75
0
39
France
I found these berrys, while looking for some more guelder rose plants.
Crab apple ? but the leave are not the same, when you cut it in half it has four apple looking pips, same type of flesh as a haw but with a bit of pear taste.
Any ideas? edible? can I put them in with the jam I'm making?
 

Earthpeace

Tenderfoot
Sep 4, 2006
75
0
39
France
Thanks for the last info Espy & chickenofthewoods. :D
I made some haw jam its delicious, great on toast. I also made some haw sauce but I put in less pepper & salt, its very tasty, it go's well in casserole with meat. :D
 
Aug 27, 2006
457
10
Kent
Thanks for that feed back earthpeace, I'll add it to the notes I've been compiling on the wild harvest recipes I've been collecting. My American contact will be delighted about the haw jam, she said it was good! What do you have planned for the wild service berries? (if anything - I am having trouble finding much information about the use and processing either these or the true service tree fruits other than 'bletting' them before eating. Even a good recipe for 'chequers' an ancient drink that may or may not have given us the name for many of our pubs is proving elusive!).

"Tree of tawny berry rich though wild
When mellowed to a pulp yet little known
Though shepherds by its dainty taste beguiled
Swarm with clasped leg the smooth trunk timber grown
and pulls the very topmost branches down
Tis beautiful when all the woods tan brown
To see thee thronged with berry's ripe and fine
For daintier palates fitting then the clown
Where hermits of a day may rove and dine
Luxuriantly amid thy crimson leaves.... "


John Clare
 
Aug 27, 2006
457
10
Kent
Not sure.... sources I've been reading seem to indicate that is was a different kind of drink to beer (or ale, if we're talking pre-hops), but I am having trouble getting more details.

Anyone have any ideas?
 

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