This evening we had compote of gooseberries with elderflower after supper with a few friends, a simple dessert, just stewed gooseberries really but it blew everyone away. Most of our friends hadn’t tasted gooseberries for years – They had virtually forgotten about them. The intense flavour sent them into a spin of nostalgia many called them Goosegogs when they were children. They reminisced about the gooseberry bushes in Granny’s garden, picking gooseberries from the prickly bushes, top and tailing them around the kitchen table for gooseberry jam, and the dire warnings not to eat them before they were ripe or “you’d get a pain where you never had a windowâ€.
Wonderful how a flavour brings memories flooding back, one mouthful and I was back in our little vegetable garden in Cullohill, picking tart green berries into an enamel bowl, so hard they sounded like stones against the side of the bowl.
Mummy usually made red gooseberry jam from the riper fruit, but years later I discovered the magic of green gooseberry and elderflower jam from Jane Grigson’s Good Things cookbook published in 1971.
She also introduced me to the magical combination of green gooseberry and elderflower. Ever since, as soon as I see elderflower blossoms in the hedgerows, I know it’s time to dash down the garden to rummage through the prickly branches of the gooseberry bushes to pick the hard green bitter marble sized berries.
It’s difficult to imagine that they are ready to eat but believe me they make the best jams and compotes at this stage and also freeze brilliantly.
If you don’t have a gooseberry bush in your garden, dash out and buy at least one now, better still three, at least one should be Careless, Invicta is another delicious variety which is somewhat resistant to mildew.
Unless you live close to a good Country or Farmers Market you are not likely to find fresh gooseberries. Unlike strawberries and raspberries which are available ad nauseam all year round, fresh gooseberries are rarely to be found on a supermarket shelf.
We grow several varieties of gooseberries; some in bush form. We train others as cordons or in a fan shape along a wall. The latter are a brilliant discovery, so much easier to pick. Gooseberries are deciduous and the fruit is high in Vitamin C.
Only today, I discovered the origin of the word gooseberry or spÃonán in Irish, apparently they were so named because they were used to make a sauce for roast goose to cut the richness – Can you imagine how delicious that combination would be?
Green Goosegog Crumble
Serves 6-8
When we were little, we always called gooseberries goosegogs.
Crumbles are the quintessential comfort food, this is a brilliant master recipe, just vary the fruit according to the season.
675g green gooseberries
45-55g soft dark brown sugar
1-2 tablespoon water
Crumble
110g plain white flour, preferably unbleached
50g butter
50g castor sugar
Elderflower Cream for serving (optional)
1.1L capacity pie dish
First stew the gooseberries gently with the sugar and water in a covered casserole or stainless steel saucepan just until the fruit bursts.
Then taste and add more sugar if necessary. Turn into a pie dish. Allow to cool slightly while you make the crumble.
Rub the butter into the flour just until the mixture resembles really coarse bread crumbs, add the sugar. Sprinkle this mixture over the gooseberries in the pie dish. Scatter the flaked almonds evenly over the top.
Bake in a preheated moderate oven 180C/350F/regulo 4, for 30-45 minutes or until the topping is cooked and golden. Serve with cream flavoured with elderflower cordial or just softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar
Variation: Gooseberry and Elderflower
Stew the gooseberries with white sugar, add 2 elderflower heads tied in muslin while stewing, remove elderflowers and proceed as above.
Variations on the Crumble
30g oatflakes or sliced hazelnuts or nibbed almonds can be good added to the crumble.
Gooseberry Frangipane Tart
This is certainly one of the most impressive of the French tarts, it is wonderful served warm but is also very good cold and it keeps for several days.
Serves 8-10
450g (1lb) green gooseberries
Stock Syrup made with:
150ml (5floz) water
60g (2oz) sugar
Boil sugar and water until all the sugar is dissolved and cool. Stock Syrup can be kept in the refrigerator until needed.
Shortcrust Pastry
200g (7oz) flour
110g (4oz) cold butter
1 egg yolk, preferably free range and organic
3-4 tablespoons cold water
Frangipane
100g (31/2oz) butter
75g (3oz) castor sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk, preferably free range
110g (4oz) whole blanched almonds, ground or 1/2ground almonds and 1/2 blanched and ground
25g (1oz) flour
To Finish
25g (1oz) flaked almonds
To Serve
Elderflower Cream (flavour softly whipped cream with elderflower cordial to taste)
23cm (9inch) diameter flan ring or tart tin with a removable base
First make the shortcrust pastry,
Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl, cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour with the fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible; if the fat is allowed to melt the finished pastry may be tough. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, stop. Whisk the egg yolk and add the water.
Take a fork or knife (whichever you feel most comfortable with) and add just enough liquid to bring the pastry together, then discard the fork and collect the pastry into a ball with your hands. This way you can judge more accurately if you need a few more drops of liquid. Although slightly damp pastry is easier to handle and roll out, the resulting crust can be tough and may well shrink out of shape as the water evaporates in the oven. The drier and more difficult-to-handle pastry will give a crisper shorter crust.
Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes or better still 30 minutes. This will make the pastry much less elastic and easier to roll.
Meanwhile, top and tail the gooseberries, put into a stainless steel saucepan, barely cover with stock syrup, bring to a boil and simmer until the gooseberries just begin to burst. Cool.
Next make the frangipane.
Cream the butter, gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and soft. Gradually add the egg and egg yolk, beating well after each addition. Stir in the ground almonds and flour. Spread the frangipane over the top and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
Turn the oven up to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Bake the tart for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven heat to moderate 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the frangipane is set in the centre and nicely golden.
Serve with Elderflower Cream.
Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam
Makes 6 x 450g (1lb) pots
It’s worth growing a gooseberry bush just to make this jam alone.
The gooseberries should be green and tart and hard as hail stones – as soon as the elderflowers are in bloom in the hedgerows search for the gooseberries under the prickly bushes or seek them out in your local greengrocer or Farmers Market.
1.6kg (3 1/2lbs) tart green gooseberries
freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons plus enough water to measure 300ml (10fl oz) in total
5-6 elderflower heads
900g (2lbs) sugar
Top and tail the gooseberries and put into a wide stainless steel saucepan or preserving pan with the water and elderflowers tied in muslin. Simmer until the gooseberries burst. Remove the elderflowers and add the warm sugar, stirring until it has completely dissolved. Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until setting point is reached (220°F on a jam thermometer). Pour into hot clean jars, cover and store in a dry airy cupboard.
This jam should be a fresh green colour, so be careful not to overcook it.
Torched Mackerel with Green Gooseberry Sauce
Serves 4
4 large mackerel fillets, bones removed and filleted in half
Salt for curing
Sprig of fennel for serving
Green Gooseberry Sauce
Equipment: Blowtorch
First make the Green Gooseberry sauce see below.
This simple sauce is so much more than the sum of its parts, we love it with pan-grilled mackerel, goose, pork and other rich fatty meats. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall suggests adding a tablespoon of chopped sage, I tried it recently and it was very good.
If you are stuck for a pudding just fold in some softly whipped cream and hey presto you have gooseberry fool.
275g (9 1/2oz) fresh green gooseberries
stock syrup to cover (see previous recipe) – 175ml (6fl oz) approximately
a knob of butter (optional)
Top and tail the gooseberries, put into a stainless steel saucepan, barely cover with stock syrup, bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit bursts. Taste. Stir in a small knob of butter if you like but it is very good without it.
Lay the mackerel fillets, skin side down on a baking tray. Sprinkle lightly with salt and allow to sit and cure slightly for 15 minutes.
Take the tray of salted mackerel and char with skin with a blow torch. The heat will refract from the tray underneath, allowing the fish to cook from both sides, leaving it slightly pink in the middle. Alternatively, you can use a grill or a pan grill.
To serve, arrange the fish on hot plates with a dollop of Green Gooseberry sauce and a sprig of fennel.
Ann Marie’s Gooseberry, Pistachio and Coconut Cake
Makes a 22cm (9 inch) diameter round cake
100g (3 1/2oz) sugar plus 20g (3/4oz) for the topping
90g (3 1/4oz) light brown sugar
180g (6 1/4oz) ground almonds
30g (1 1/4oz) ground pistachio
45g (1 3/4oz) desiccated coconut
50g (2oz/1/2 cup) self-rising flour
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of Elderflower cordial (optional)
150g (5oz) butter – melted
3 eggs
250g (9oz) gooseberries, halved
1oz pistachio nuts coarsely chopped
Icing sugar to serve
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 (160C fan).
Lightly grease the cake tin with butter.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour over the melted butter and mix in the eggs, spoon the batter into the pre-greased tin and smooth down.
Drop the halved gooseberries onto the batter and sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining 20g (3/4oz) of sugar. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes, then turn the cake around and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until the cake between the gooseberries goes all golden.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin, as it needs time to settle, then gently remove by running a knife around the edges. Covered well, it will keep in the fridge for up to a week (not much chance of that happening), but for the best flavour, allow it to return to room temperature before eating. To serve sprinkle with some coarsely chopped pistachio nuts and dredge with a little icing sugar.