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July is really the beginning of the season for orchard fruits and nuts.
One of the more unusual fruits I have come across in recent years is the mulberry. There are different types and colours (confusingly, the type does not usually correspond with the colour of the fruit!). In my opinion the superior variety from a culinary point of view is the Black Mulberry, the fruits of which are usually a dark purple red. These are far juicier and have more flavour than the firmer White Mulberry (which can have black fruit!). The White Mulberry is the variety preferred by silkworms, which eat the leaves. The Black Mulberry fruits do not store and do not travel. For this reason they have rarely been for sale. Here are some recipe ideas should you be lucky enough to either possess your own tree, or have a friend or neighbour who does.
Please refer to STOG (Suffolk Traditional Orchards Group) newsletters (Summer 2013, Autumn 2013, Summer 2014) for more information on the different types of mulberry and recipe ideas. The STOG Newsletter archive can be accessed via the Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service.
As an experiment I have made Mulberry Gins with White and with Black Mulberries in order to do a “compare and contrast” tasting. The Black Mulberry Gin had the most flavour (very distinctive but impossible to describe!). Making the gin uses the same method as sloe gin, steeping the fruit, layered with sugar, in gin (or vodka if you prefer, although I think gin does bring a more aromatic note to the finished product). Usual quantities are 1lb fruit to 1 pint gin. I prefer less sweet drinks so would probably add around 3 oz of sugar. I use a kilner jar or similar. Allow the fruit to steep for 3 – 6 months, then strain and bottle.
Mulberries can be added to mixtures of other summer fruits in the classic Summer Pudding, fruit salads, as toppings for a summer pavlova, in a version of Eton Mess (mixed with whipped cream and crumbled meringue), or made into a coulis to pour over good vanilla ice cream.
MULBERRY COULIS
Approx 8 oz / 225g mulberries (or mulberries mixed with other berries such as raspberries, currants, stoned and halved cherries etc)
Approx 3 oz / 75g caster sugar (the amount of sugar will depend on the fruit used, its level of sweetness, and personal taste ----- I prefer it to be sharper and less sweet)
Additional sieved icing sugar, optional
Prepare the fruit according to type. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Leave for 30 minutes (the sugar will cause the juice to run from the berries). Place the fruit and sugar mixture in the food processor and process. Then pass the processed fruit through a sieve into a bowl. Taste for sweetness. If required, stir in some sieved icing sugar to taste.
As well as pouring over good quality vanilla ice cream, this can be added to a mixture of Greek yoghurt and crushed meringue, or served with vanilla panna cotta or similar.
The coulis will keep covered in the fridge for a couple of days. It can also be frozen. Freeze in small containers and use as required.
The other fruit in season in July is the cherry. Grown in this country mostly in Kent, they were also traditionally grown on the Suffolk / Essex borders around Great Cornard and Polestead. There is also evidence that Soham in Cambridgeshire was an area of cherry growing.
CLAFOUTIS
This is a traditional French dish using cherries. It’s a type of batter pudding ------- a sort of cherry toad in the hole!
1lb / 450g cherries, stoned
2 large eggs
3 oz / 75g caster sugar
1 ½ oz / 38g plain flour
¼ pint / 150 ml double cream
½ pint / 300 ml full cream milk
Preheat the oven to 190°C (conventional) / Gas Mark 5. Cream the eggs and sugar in a bowl, add the flour and continue beating. Then beat in the cream and milk.
Place the cherries in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour over the batter. Cook in the oven for 35 minutes, until the top is browned and the batter is set. The texture of the cooked batter is somewhere between a custard and a cake.
Eat hot or cold. Serve with cream.
Enjoy!
Monica Askay
July 2018