Friday 19 September 2014

Barberries

Another unusual fruit this week! Barberries (Berberis thunbergii)
Grown as hedging and small decorative shrubs in gardens across Britain, many people don't realise these are edible. The berries are used a lot in Iranian and middle eastern cooking cooking, chucked into rice to give it a sharp pop when you eat them.
 My friend has a massive tree sized bush growing on his grounds, covered in berries, so I decided to do a bit of scrumping (with permission) to get some to try.
 I like the berries straight off the bush and so did both my children, but I can see they'd be a bit tart for some, they taste like a sweetened cranberry. I picked a small tub full and set about sorting out the berries so I could preserve them.
 They are quite a fiddly berry to pick and in the end I just picked a few bunches and then sorted them out at home, whilst trying to stop Ev from eating them all. 
I then put them in my little dehydrator and set them to dry for a few hours. It was tricky as they kept falling through the slats so I had to do it in two goes, I could do with getting some gause to lay them on as they'd dry a lot quicker if they wouldn't keep falling through. 
I managed to dry a small jar full.
When dried they taste even better, they'd be a good substitute for raisins (if you don't mind a much tarter flavour) or dried cranberries and much easier to grow as you largely leave the bush alone and the birds don't seem to affect it much. I'm looking forward to trying these in some rice and maybe scattered over my breakfast.
Anyone else eat these or have them growing in their garden?

10 comments:

  1. Try some muslin in the dehydrator to stop the berries falling through the slats.
    If you know a friendly butcher they might let you have some, just boil it to sterilise it first and cut to shape once dried. Or try a shop that sells dress making fabric or if you are feeling flushed with money, lakeland ltd or one of those jam jar selling, jam making sites sell it I think. I bought mine from the Fabric Guild in Leicester, called Kisco. It is sometime used in quilt making or mixed media projects.

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    1. I'kll try that thanks. I'd be a little worried about the muslin getting too hot though. We've got quite a bit of muslin about the place after having two babies so it'll be good to find some more uses for it!

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  2. I do not have this shrub yet, I am a bit concerned that the berries look a lot like Spindle which are definitely not edible. I love cranberries but it looks as though you get much more "bang for your buck" with Berberis.

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    1. I googled spindle berries after I read your comment and you should be able to tell the difference. These won't be to everyones taste but I enjoy them.

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  3. Love cranberries so I'd love these...never seen them though.
    Jane x

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    1. Good low effort plants - try and get a couple for your plot!

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  4. No I've never heard of these. Any berry that the birds leave alone is a bonus for us gardeners :-)

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    1. I'm not sure they leave them alone completely but there 's so many berries on there that they can't keep up!

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  5. Will make a note of the name of the shrub and see if it is available here in SW France.

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    1. Let me know how you get on. I know you can buy it as hedging over here so it works out to be quite a cheap bush.

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