Category Archive: Preserves

Jams, chutneys, jellies, relishes

Meadowsweet cordial

You need… 1 litre of water 250 g sugar Loads of meadowsweet (about 50 heads?) 1 lemon Bring the water to the boil with 125g sugar and the lemon juice, then switch off. Strip all the flowers from their stalks and add to the water, which should end up with a thick wodge of flowers …

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Bilberry picking

Bilberries are one of my favourite wild foods, right up there with wild garlic and parasol mushrooms. They start to appear in August and can be got into September, it all seems to depend on where exactly they’re growing. You’d also be well advised to look for them somewhere that sheep aren’t grazing, as the …

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Spicy crab apple jelly

I’ve never given crab apples a second thought before. Just passed the odd tree in a hedgerow on a country ramble and fatuously observed “crab apples” in the same way that I tend to say “sheep” or “blackbird” or “horsie” whenever the relevant thing comes into view. Nope, I’m not the least bit embarrassed about …

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