Foraging

[ardcarp]

We had a phenomenal crop of wild blackberries here in South Cheshire, and my sister who recently relocated here from Scotland has been out with her pooch picking them . I made some blackberry gin some years ago, to drink in January, but couldn't be bothered this year!

Phenomenal quantities of big juicy blackberries here in Devon too. Went prickly picking today in hedgerows and filled twp large ice-cream tubs in about 15 minutes.

Most will be frozen (best in single layers on trays to start with) for later use in blackberry and apple crumble. Which reminds me, we have a backlog of apples to peel and chop up as well. They'll be lightly boiled and then frozen too.

[french frank]

Perhaps not the Coop you were thinking of...

https://www.coop.ch/en/food/inventories/staples/flour-sugar/powder-sugar-special-sugar/preserving-sugar/p/3030013

This is the right time of year to be looking for it though, as it tends to be a seasonal stock item these days in my experience.

I use to take lunch regularly in Swiss Coops - they had a dish of the week which was the same through all branches and, like station restaurants, the locals would eat there regularly. Not sure if I have to pay in Swiss francs - but I clicked on 'my coop' and it's a fascinating site. Well, it is to me anyway

[french frank]

I wonder if the Coop has it …

Hmm, no Coop sugar - only Tate & Lyle. I bought a small packet but maybe I should not have. I don't normally use sugar at all. I do have a small lock-and-seal box with some in (had it for a few years, same sugar ) for visitors in case they take it.

[oddoneout]

Hmm, no Coop sugar - only Tate & Lyle. I bought a small packet but maybe I should not have. I don't normally use sugar at all. I do have a small lock-and-seal box with some in (had it for a few years, same sugar ) for visitors in case they take it.

Even if it was Coop branded it would likely have been T&L - it's something of a niche product these days. Everything comes with drawbacks - cane sugar is associated historically with slavery, sugar beet growing with neonic damage.
I use very little sugar (which is not the same as my sugar intake is low... but having to choose the expensive limited offering glutenfree option for baked goods, which more often than not just doesn't appeal, does reduce the indulgence considerably!) and when the small pot in the kitchen cupboard ran out I had to dig a long way back into the pantry to see if I had more. I found the last of a pack of golden granulated, together with a couple of small packs of the sticky dark brown, relics of the days in a previous existence(and kitchen) when I used to bake. As I recently found a book of microwave mug cake recipes in a charity perhaps I could start using one at least of them to colour the cakes.

[gradus]

Its perfectly possible to extract pectin from fruits rich in it eg crab apples and use it to help set fruits low in pectin Whether one has the energy or desire to do so is of course another matter.

[french frank]

Its perfectly possible to extract pectin from fruits rich in it eg crab apples and use it to help set fruits low in pectin Whether one has the energy or desire to do so is of course another matter.

Several recipes are for rosehip and crabapple, ratio 1:2, which is about what I picked up yesterday. Bit mystified by the different recipes, trying to work out what is absolutely essential. Raw honey? I suspect not. Lemon juice? I have the preserving sugar and the crab apples so I think that I have enough pectin. I think I can improvise a jelly bag.

What is fascinating is the recipe references to processors, freezers, thermometers &c. They must have made jellies without all these newfangled gadgets in the past. They knew a thing or two!

[oddoneout]

Several recipes are for rosehip and crabapple, ratio 1:2, which is about what I picked up yesterday. Bit mystified by the different recipes, trying to work out what is absolutely essential. Raw honey? I suspect not. Lemon juice? I have the preserving sugar and the crab apples so I think that I have enough pectin. I think I can improvise a jelly bag.

What is fascinating is the recipe references to processors, freezers, thermometers &c. They must have made jellies without all these newfangled gadgets in the past. They knew a thing or two!

I can't help thinking the popularity of freezer jam has its downsides, not least in terms of space...
I have an old cookery book, a collection of recipes from the Home Section of the Farmers Weekly(no apostrophe), which has some interesting (to modern eyes) methods and ingredients in the preserves section. References to cooking over a clear fire or in a slow oven, corks dipped in mutton fat to seal bottled apples, sprinkling salicylic acid on top of cooked blackberries before tying down the stone jar with brown paper... It includes recipes for marrows, sloes, hips, haws, rowan berries, green tomatoes as well as the usual apples, pears, soft fruit. I have in the past used several of the recipes, mostly with success. One thing that I did pick up was using the pulp from jelly making to make fruit cheese. A couple of the recipes make reference to putting fruit through a mincer - the forerunner of the processor usage.
Although the edition I have is 1954, it includes all the original recipes from the first version of 1935, hence the references to methods from before the time of modern cookers etc. and the use of ingredients that would not now be considered, but were all part of the farmhouse economy.

[french frank]

Brilliant!

I can't help thinking the popularity of freezer jam has its downsides, not least in terms of space...

The freezer for the jelly only seems to be to put the saucer in before testing for setting. I was going to put a saucer in the fridge. Some recipes also said put the rosehips in the freezer for a short while to simulate a frost.

And … I have an old mincer in the back of the cupboard (my mother's)! The last/only time I used it was to mince very stale chunks of bread to make breadcrumbs. Who needs blenders and processers? But I've also found an old cookery book, 1st edition 1938, though mine is a 1947 reprint. Pretty unfussy recipe for the crab apple jelly. Also one for rowanberry jelly (with apple) but not rosehip. Just boil up the fruit in a bit o' water, strain ("You will find that a coarse linen cloth tied to the legs of an upturned chair will make an excellent jellybag"), add the sugar and boil. Done.

Tempted to try the cheese but it's a bit early to make it for Christmas presents …

[HighlandDougie]

Its perfectly possible to extract pectin from fruits rich in it eg crab apples and use it to help set fruits low in pectin Whether one has the energy or desire to do so is of course another matter.

Very Proustian, this thread. A sudden memory of my mother making bramble jelly (we lived in the country) and insisting that she had to have some crab apples as it would be difficult to get a set otherwise - and being sent to scrump some of the same from an ancient gnarled tree. Too many seeds in the fruit to make jam, she insisted, so it had to be jelly. And then the boiled up mush being heaved into a jelly bag, suspended from a broom handle between two chairs and left to drip overnight. Being a little philistine with plebeian tastes, I much preferred jam (preferably raspberry) to jelly.

[Jonathan]

We picked loads of blackberries last year when walking along the river but this year, we haven't yet looked. There were some in our lane until our neighbour took a hedge trimmer to all the weeds taller than about 2ft. As a result, all the brambles all dead.

[Frances_iom]

We picked loads of blackberries last year when walking along the river but this year, we haven't yet looked. There were some in our lane until our neighbour took a hedge trimmer to all the weeds taller than about 2ft. As a result, all the brambles all dead.

don't fret they will be back next year - however the hot summer doesn't appear to have been good for a crop - I had brambles in my garden, thought I'd get a small crop before cutting them down but came back after the very hot spell to find all fruit desiccated - here on the IoM the crop also seems smaller as is the fruit - also looks as though it is a second later crop as still unripe in many sections - guess it depends on what their access to water was.

[gradus]

Brilliant!



The freezer for the jelly only seems to be to put the saucer in before testing for setting. I was going to put a saucer in the fridge. Some recipes also said put the rosehips in the freezer for a short while to simulate a frost.

And … I have an old mincer in the back of the cupboard (my mother's)! The last/only time I used it was to mince very stale chunks of bread to make breadcrumbs. Who needs blenders and processers? But I've also found an old cookery book, 1st edition 1938, though mine is a 1947 reprint. Pretty unfussy recipe for the crab apple jelly. Also one for rowanberry jelly (with apple) but not rosehip. Just boil up the fruit in a bit o' water, strain ("You will find that a coarse linen cloth tied to the legs of an upturned chair will make an excellent jellybag"), add the sugar and boil. Done.

Tempted to try the cheese but it's a bit early to make it for Christmas presents …

Fruit cheeses and fruit butters are very old school though you can still buy Quince cheese. Recipes for both are easy to find but the best publication I know of was the Stationery Office's Domestic Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables, utterly comprehensive and with proven and tested methods for every preserving technique. If you can find a copy it is a lifetime publication.

[oddoneout]

Fruit cheeses and fruit butters are very old school though you can still buy Quince cheese. Recipes for both are easy to find but the best publication I know of was the Stationery Office's Domestic Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables, utterly comprehensive and with proven and tested methods for every preserving technique. If you can find a copy it is a lifetime publication.

The book I've got has a double recipe for quince jelly and then for cheese with the pulp left which I might try this year as the quince tree at work usually has a good crop and no-one wants them. The green tomato jam recipe might get used as well, but I think I'll pass on the emergency marmalade one - I can't see myself needing 15lbs of preserve! Or for that matter what sort of emergency would need that amount of marmalade...

[oddoneout]

Brilliant!



The freezer for the jelly only seems to be to put the saucer in before testing for setting. I was going to put a saucer in the fridge. Some recipes also said put the rosehips in the freezer for a short while to simulate a frost.

And … I have an old mincer in the back of the cupboard (my mother's)! The last/only time I used it was to mince very stale chunks of bread to make breadcrumbs. Who needs blenders and processers? But I've also found an old cookery book, 1st edition 1938, though mine is a 1947 reprint. Pretty unfussy recipe for the crab apple jelly. Also one for rowanberry jelly (with apple) but not rosehip. Just boil up the fruit in a bit o' water, strain ("You will find that a coarse linen cloth tied to the legs of an upturned chair will make an excellent jellybag"), add the sugar and boil. Done.

Tempted to try the cheese but it's a bit early to make it for Christmas presents …

Looks as if I managed to delete my reply - perhaps it's time I went to bed.
I used to have a long legged stool with bracing bars set low which was ideal for jelly draining when set upside down as it could be tucked into the corner of the kitchen away from the risk of being tipped over by family coming and going.
Why is it a bit early for the cheese as Christmas presents - as a preserve it'll last - or is it not wanting to be thinking about that season just yet?

[french frank]

I used to have a long legged stool with bracing bars set low which was ideal for jelly draining when set upside down as it could be tucked into the corner of the kitchen away from the risk of being tipped over by family coming and going.

No jellybags in hardware shop - sold out with the stands - but they had muslin ("strains jams and jellies"), so it looks like the muslin and upturned chair/stool as in my elderly book.

Why is it a bit early for the cheese as Christmas presents - as a preserve it'll last

Thought it only lasted a few weeks. Don't you have to prepare the fruit more carefully for cheese - cut off the rosehip tails, remove seeds first, remove pips and cores from apples?

I was given some 'plum cheese' last Christmas: it was just like jelly so I think it was missold.