Living in Finland is not always so cheap; especially if you don’t come from fellow Nordic countries, UK or Switzerland. Then on the other hand, it’s good to keep in mind that high living standards and cheap prices rarely go hand in hand, no matter where you go. However, in this post you will get a good tip about how to save some money, pile up with vitamines and other beneficial nutrients and learn something new.
Conserving in water has been a traditional way of conserving crunchy berries and some fruits. With crunchy berries I mean those berries that are a bit harder in surface and that crunch when you take a bite of them. Think about lingonberries (lat. vaccinium vitis-idaea), gooseberries (ribes uva-crispa), cranberries (vaccinium oxycoccos) and rowanberries (sorbus aucuparia). Also cherries and rhubarb can be conserved in water.
Yesterday I went picking rowanberries. I got them for free from a family after having made a post to one giveaway group if someone has rowanberries on the yard and doesn’t intend to eat them. These berries were widely used by the common people still in the 1950’s. They have usually a very sour taste, but even in the same tree there might slightly sweeter berries too. Rowanberries contain two times more vitamin C than oranges. Besides, they contain good amounts of betacarotene, polyphenols and iron. It has been used in the past for curing anemia.
NB. That rowanberries can’t be found in shops! In my opinion it’s the most underrated edible berry we have in Finland, since only a fraction of the yearly harvest is consumed.
Conserving in water is very easy, really conserving for dummies, so to speak.
1. Pick the berries. Pick only whole and healthy berries. Do not go and pick when the berries are wet. Use plastic or wooden buckets/trays/boxes for picking. No plastic bags!
2. Sanitize your hands well. Wash and disinfect. Take off rings and/or watches/bracelets.
3. Sterilize the jars in the oven without the lid: 100 degrees celsius for 15-20 minutes is enough. In the meanwhile sterilize the lids in boiling water for 10 minutes.
4. Boil water in a cooking pot.
5. Let the water cool down.
6. Put the berries to the sterilized jars and pour the cooled water on them. Close the jars immediately.
7. Store in the fridge, or in a cellar. If the jars freeze, it’s not a problem.
You can serve the berries together with cream or vanilla sauce. Enjoy! 🙂
– Pekka