Salaric Cooking

Through out the autumn and late summer we harvest berries from the hedge rows near our house. We dry and/or freeze these and have found that they make a good addition to mulled wine.

The sorts of berries you can find:

Elderberries
Sloes
Wild strawberries
Rose hips
Haws
Blackberries
Wild raspberries

We tend to have mostly blackberries and elderberries – rose hips and haws grow in abundance but taste wise you want the juicers berries plus rose hips have hairs in them you mustn’t eat and haws have stones so they need to be put in a muslin cloth for boiling in the wine or you sieve the drink before you give it to people.

The recipe is:

One bottle of red wine
1 liter of orange juice
1 liter of water
1/4 liter of brandy
2 table spoons of brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of cloves
1/s apple chopped
3 slices of orange
Selection of fruits mentioned above

Put in a saucepan over a moderate heat, stirring int he sugar before adding spices and fruit. Once everything is added, bring to a rolling boil and then reduce heat. Serve warning that it is hot!

FISH.–Barbel, brill, carp, cod, crabs, eels, dace, gudgeons, haddocks, herrings, lobsters, oysters, porch, pike, shrimps, skate, sprats, soles, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

MEAT.–Beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, venison.

I’m not quiet sure what house lamb is but assume its some sort of lamb – here I go stating the obvious again!

POULTRY.–Capons, chickens, fowls, geese, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys, widgeons, wild ducks.

GAME.–Hares, partridges, pheasants, snipes, woodcocks.

VEGETABLES.–Broccoli, cabbages, carrots, celery, leeks, onions, potatoes, parsnips, Scotch kale, turnips, winter spinach.

FRUIT.–Apples, chestnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars, oranges, pears, walnuts, dried fruits, such as almonds and raisins, figs, dates, &c.,–crystallized preserves.