The other day I picked hawthorn berries. I want to use them for medicinal uses. It is sad that a lot of us have forgotten, or never learned, the connection between food and medicine. The berries are ready when they are a deep red. They should come away from the stalks easily or else they need a bit more time to ripen. I am drying some for tea, but I thought that I would try making the hawthorn ketchup that I have heard about. We don’t use many condiments with our meals but do use them alot as an ingredient when cooking.
Ingredients
500g of Hawthorn berries
350ml cider vinegar
350g water
150g Brown sugar or honey
1/2 tsp Cayene pepper (or mixed herbs)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method.
1. Wash the berries, check for stalks and discard any mouldy or wisened fruit.
2. Put into a pan with the cider vinegar and water and boil for 30 minutes.
3. Mash the berries in the pan and then sieve the mixture into a bowl. Press hard with the back of a spoon as you want to get some of the pulp through the sieve but not the skins and seeds.The picture was taken after a quick mash in the pan. Lots of juice came out.
4. Discard the pulp and seeds in the sieve. Empty and rinse the pan and put the pulp and juice from the bowl back in. Slowly heat and add the sugar, cayene, and salt and pepper. Mix until the sugar is melted.
5. Gently simmer until it is the consistency that you want. It took about 20 to 25 mins for me but it could be less if you have managed the get more pulp through. Mine thickened some more when it cooled.
6. Pour into a warm, sterilised bottle. The mixture made a large sauce bottle full.
7. Let it mature for about 4 weeks to deepen the flavour before eating. It will last around 4 months unopened. Once open, keep in the fridge and use within 14 days.
Verdict
I was really suprised how nice the taste was as it didn’t smell that great when cooking. Apparently it is nice with cheese, or on roasted vegetables. I will be using mine as a condiment but also using it to flavour a stew or two. If I haven’t used it all up with in 2 weeks, once opened, I will freeze it in ice cube trays and bag it so that it doesn’t waste.
Hawthorn berries have been used for centuries by herbalists to help control blood pressure, improve circulation, and help to strengthen heart muscles. As with anything with medicinal properties, if you are on any kind of medication it is best to check with your doctor before consuming.
Hawthorn berries are prolific this year, and very early. If you do go foraging to make this, please don’t forget to leave some berries for the birds.
I saw some what I think is hawthorn berries on my walk earlier this week I’ll have to check.
I didn’t know that they had them overthere. Great
That is very interesting, thanks. I know my mum used to talk about my grandmother using all sorts of natural plants to make things.
My great aunt used to work in a herbalist so I have lot’s of memories of her talking about potions and creams made from plants.
How lucky are you. I hope that you got some recipes
My mother made something similar with wild rose hips which she said was full of vitamin C .
They are. I usually make rosehip syrup to use as a sweetener instead of sugar