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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Classic Rowanberry Jelly

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Classic rowanberry jelly recipeRowanberries / mountain ash berries (Sorbus americana) are one of the more difficult fruits to work with I know of. At first I really, really wanted to find ways to use the fruits that made use of the entire fruit, and, yeah, it’s difficult.

But, traditional rowan jelly is supposedly a good condiment for game, so I’ve been meaning to work out a version. I didn’t have high expectations, but the jelly ended up being one of the most interesting I’ve had. The flavor is excellent, and the bitterness is there, but tempered by the perfume of apples and the sugar. 

Edible rowanberries or mountain ash berries

Rowanberries have a brilliant orange color

Pick your berries after multiple hard frosts

The berries are horrifically bitter, and they stay bitter if they haven’t seen multiple hard frosts, which makes things doubly difficult since there’s a number of the trees in areas I forage around the Twin Cities, but, every year, the cedar wax wings stripped the trees bare before I can get to them.

To beat the birds, I would pick the berries early, and try to work with them, but the results were always very bitter. It wasn’t until I started finding the trees on the North Shore, north of Duluth where they grow in mass quantity, that I really got berries palatable enough to cook with. 

The rowanberries on the North Shore were much better since they were exposed to multiple hard frosts, and for whatever reason, the birds don’t seem to pay them as much attention as they do the berries a few hours south. So, if you’re in the area and wondering, the key is to go get them in say, mid-October if you want to make something you can eat. 

Back to the jelly itself, one of the reasons I was excited to make this was that it would be my first foray into a no-pectin added jelly. I usually add pectin just for the sake of covering my bases, but, as traditional rowan jelly includes apples that are strained out specifically for the purpose of pectin (and flavor and color) I saw no reason to add commercial pectin.

Rowanberry jelly recipe

There’s nothing wrong with having it on toasted, buttered english muffins, or crumpets.

The result was is one of the best sets I’ve had in a jelly, and if you’ve ever wondered if making pectin-less jelly by adding apples is possible, trust me, it is, and it’s great.

The flavor is a sort of crescendo, a pleasant bitterness and deeply rowan flavor underscored with sweetness. It’s addicting, and the gentle set from the natural pectin seems to be a bit more forgiving than commercial pectin, the set on it is just perfect, barely holding together, quivering and jiggly. It’s wonderful. 

I haven’t tried it with game yet, but rest assured, that’s in the works. 

The flavor is an acquired taste, but the sugar tames it enough so that even people unfamiliar with the berries will probably reach for seconds. Here’s some of my favorite things I’ve eaten with it so far. 

Use Ideas 

  • With strong flavored cheeses, especially goat, sheep and blue cheese like gorgonzola
  • It likes cured meats, and salty sausages. 
  • The bitterness and sweetness is a good foil for liver, just add a splash of wine to the pan some liver was cooked in, add a good glob of jelly, a knob of butter, a dash of lemon juice, whisk and reduce until thickened, and voila, pan sauce. 
  • Mostly I’ve just been eating it for breakfast, and it’s delicious on a buttered, toasted english muffin to show off the deep orange color. 
  • The bitterness reminds me a bit of bitter orange, so the next thing I’ll be making is the same jelly here, but with orange peel cut into fine julienne. 

Rowanberry jelly recipe

Rowanberry jelly recipe
Print Recipe
3.5 from 10 votes

Classic Rowanberry Jelly

Makes about 5 cups
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Breakfast, Condiment
Cuisine: British
Keyword: Jelly, Rowanberries
Servings: 5

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs apples
  • 2 lbs rowanberries
  • 2.5 lbs (5 cups water)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 oz chopped fresh ginger optional
  • 4 cups Sugar or as needed (1 cup per cup of juice)

Instructions

  • Cut the apples into pieces including the skins and seeds.
  • Gently mash the rowanberries with a potato masher or something similar.
  • Combine the apples, ginger, berries and water and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cook uncovered for 1 hour. Strain the liquid into a strainer lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth or a jelly bag and allow to drain until cool. Do not squeeze the liquid from the cheesecloth.
  • Discard the spent apple-berry mix.
  • Combine the reserved liquid (you should have 4 cups, if you don’t reduce the liquid until you have 4 cups, or adjust the sugar accordingly, using 1 cup sugar for each cup of reserved, strained liquid).

Doing set tests

  • Put some chilled plates, bowls, or other small containers in the freezer for doing set tests, preferably you testing bowls are made of metal as it conducts heat and cold quickly. Mix the liquid and sugar, then bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium, and cook until the temperature starts to hover around 220F. Begin doing set tests a little after the mixture hits 220F. 225F was about perfect for me, but let the set test be your guide.
  • You really want the jelly to boil hard for a bit, so adjust the position of the pan as needed to prevent it from overflowing. Cooking and reducing the jelly will take about 25-30 minutes, don’t be tempted to do set tests until around that time. Depending on the pan I’m using and how high the sides are, I may move it halfway off the burner to allow me to still use high heat without the pan overflowing. Cleaning up jelly overflows is, sticky and not fun.
  • For the set tests, pour a tablespoon or so into frozen metal bowls or spoons and allow to cool while the jelly simmers. Once you can see a gentle wrinkle on the top of the of the test surface when it cools you’re good, beat in the lemon juice, and pour the jelly into sterilized jars. Screw on lids and rings, and allow to cool. The jars will naturally seal themselves.

Rowanberry jelly or mountain ash berry jelly

Related

Previous Post: « Highbush Cranberry-Ginger Jelly
Next Post: Baked Fish with Black Trumpet Crust »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jacques-Alexandre ARMEDE

    October 18, 2020 at 3:38 am

    5 stars
    i’ve been thinking that a liquor would make good work of those berries.

    I love your blog, a true goldmine

    Reply
  2. Cal

    February 2, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    I’ve tried this in the past but ended up with something that was unpleasantly bitter and puckery. Frost being the answer and birds being the problem, do you think that picking the berries early and freezing and thawing them for a coupe of cycles would reduce the bitterness in the same way?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      February 3, 2021 at 9:05 am

      This jelly is delicious, but collections can vary a bit in taste. That being said, since the whole berries aren’t being used, it’s quite milder than most who’ve tasted fresh rowanberries would expect. Picking and freezing the berries hasn’t done anything for me. I would give this jelly another shot, it’s one of my favorites.

      Reply
  3. Andrea

    August 21, 2021 at 10:29 am

    I am so happy to have found your information about Rowan berries, as I have a Rowan tree in my yard! I’m curious about this recipe. There doesn’t seem to be any sugar listed in the ingredients, but the instructions say to add a cup per cup of liquid. So do we add around four cups of sugar? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 21, 2021 at 10:48 am

      Andrea, thanks, I could see how that could be confusing, I adjusted it, and, yes, it is a classic jelly, with equal parts sugar and strained liquid. No pectin is needed. Let me know how it turns out for you-and do try to get them after a frost if at all available.

      Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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