Читать книгу Food for Free - Richard Mabey - Страница 12

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A shrub of hedge and waste places, growing to 3 m (10 ft). It is spiny, with small, toothed oval leaves, yellow flowers and scarlet berries from July.

Because of its spiny branches and brilliant scarlet berries, barberry was once popular as a hedging plant. It was stockproof as well as being ornamental. Then, last century, it was discovered that the foliage was a host of the black rust fungus that could devastate cereal crops, and most bushes growing near arable fields were destroyed. Today barberry is largely confined to hedges in pastureland and to old parks and commons. The berries are strikingly attractive, being brilliant red in colour, oblong in shape and hung in loose clusters all over the bushes. They are usually ready by late August or early September, but check their ripeness by seeing if a berry will burst when squeezed. It is advisable to use scissors and gloves when picking because of the shrub’s long, sharp spines.

Barberry dressing

The berries are juicy and pleasantly tart, and make an excellent jelly with lamb. But it is a shame not to make use of their shape and colour, and the sense they give of being concentrated capsules of juice. Many of the most interesting uses of barberry have been partly decorative. They can be used as a dressing for roast duck – they burst during the cooking and baste the meat with their juice. Mrs Beeton suggests that ‘the berries arranged on bunches of nice curled parsley make an exceedingly pretty garnish for white meats’. Some cooks float the berries on top of fruit salads.

Candied barberries

The berries can be candied for longer storage. Boil sugar to the syrup point, then dip the bunches of barberry into the syrup for 5 hours. Remove the berries, boil the syrup to the candy point and return the berries for a few minutes. Then remove them, and allow to set.

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