food: barberry jam

[redbird]

cattitude bought barberry jam a while ago, and I recently opened the jar, tasted a bit on a spoon, and then added some to my oatmeal.

It's a mild, pleasant berry flavor.

The jam is thick/solid enough that it didn't mix into the oats the way some other kinds of jam do, and I don't think it would work well in yogurt. I want to try it on bread (or pancakes?). J djd like the little lumps of barberry flavor in some of the oats, which also had maple syrup, fresh blueberries, and pecan pieces.

Comments

[pameladean]

Barberries look so ferocious, I was somewhat surprised to hear that the flavor is mild. Brains will do these things. P.

[redbird]

Brains will, and sometimes they're right: blackberry bushes/brambles are fiercer than raspberries, and the flavor is intense. Mulberry trees are not at all ferocious, and the berries are pleasant but not intense. I tried dried mulberries once, because I thought I would like them, and found them not worth eating.

Raspberries are both intensely flavored and somewhat protected by thorns, but the way I used to protect myself from being hurt by the thorns doesn't really work on blackberry bushes.

[adrian_turtle]

I don't think I've ever seen a barberry in the wild, but the Persian grocery near my new dentist has so, SO, many barberries. Frozen barberries. Frozen meat pies with barberries. Many kinds of barberry preserves. Barberry fruit leather. Dried barberries. Barberry juice. Barberry molasses. (This is New England, so I would not have been surprised to see Cran-Barberry Juice Cocktail. But it didn't jump out at me.)

[tarasacon]

I’m currently in love with a gooseberry jam, and a black currant jam, both from Tiptree.

Growing up in Oregon, we harvested the berries from oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) and huckleberries (Vaccinium species), and my mom would make jam. We’d also pick blackberries, but those usually just got eaten out of hand, or sometimes baked into a pie.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried barberries in any form.

I was very excited to try mulberries after I moved to Kentucky, and found them utterly bland, and not at all worth the effort. It was very disappointing.

[redbird]

Mulberries seem to range from extremely bland to a mildly pleasant flavor. I'm not sure how much of that is differences between kinds of mulberry (white or purple) and how much is the year or differences between individual trees.

I do know that mallards like them--when we lived in Inwood, there was a mulberry overhanging the tidal marsh. The ripe berries would fall onto the water or mud (depending on whether the tide was in), and I got used to watching the ducks eat them. This has nothing to do with whether humans will like the fruit, I just found it amusing. (I also found it amusing that I took up bird watching, and started paying attention to the tides, when we moved to Manhattan.)

[readerjane]

I haven’t heard of barberries before. Looks like it’s available in my area as tea, dried fruit or a dietary supplement, but not yet as jam. Will keep an eye out for it.