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Uses for Mulberries


Chris Hennes

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I just got back from a friend's house where I was picking mulberries. Well, picking isn't quite the right word: I put a sheet under the tree and shook the branches. Picked out the bad ones and viola! mulberries. Beats the hell out of picking wild blackberries, that's for sure. But, now what do I do with them? The flavor is quite good: a bit tart but not too much, reminds me of blackberries. But the central stem poses a problem, I don't think a pie would work well. Is jam my only option? If so I guess I'll use it to fill chocolates, but I'm open to other uses for the puree.

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

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I expect you could use it to make a coulis or syrup. We do that with our red and black currants and use it on pancakes and waffles. I don't know why mulberries couldn't be used the same way(or blackberries, for that matter).

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I'm jealous. I've never tried mulberries, maybe seen them once or twice in a farmers mkt around here. I'll have to keep an eye open for them again.

In her Fruit cookbook, Alice Waters suggests making ice cream, sorbet or a summer fruit soup with mulberries. Her recipes instruct people to puree the berries in a food processor, then push the puree through a sieve. I guess that process takes care of the central stem & any seeds. Pls let us know how your mulberry cooking goes!

ETA: Waters also says the berries last a day or two in fridge. She says the berries freeze well.

Edited by djyee100 (log)
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We also have tons of mulberry trees. For the last several years, the late freeze has inhibited the berry production. :(

This year, however, should be a banner year (Chris, I thought you lived in Oklahoma--you guys already have berries???)

I love the flavor of them, but, the inner stem and the seeds always have stopped me from using them. I'm not a big jelly fan.

I'd love to make a cobbler with them, but it seems like a lot of work de-stemming them etc.

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Here's another option: ratafia. Go to the NYT site and search for "ratafia". The recipe appeared in conjunction with a restaurant called "Tafia", hence the name of the resto. Briefly, one soaks any berries in red wine and vodka and waits a couple of weeks (keep in fridge). Then strain off the liquid and enjoy, usually with club soda. And I mean ENJOY! We deliberately look for wild berries to pick for this; simply wonderful, especially with wild blackberries.

Ray

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When I was a kid I'd pick mulberries from my uncles trees and my grandmother always made cobblers with them. I don't remember any stem problems so either she did the extra work without me realizing it or I was just so happy to be eating it that I didn't care. I wish I still had access to some, I'd like to try a sorbet.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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(Chris, I thought you lived in Oklahoma--you guys already have berries???)

Oh yes, millions of them, they started last week and look like they've got another week or so to go. It took me about 15 minutes of tree-shaking to get a gallon of them, which was about as many as I figured I could deal with. It's been in the upper 80s and low 90s for the last couple weeks, and the weather has been great for berry production.

When I got them home I simply put them in a pan on the stove and brought them to a boil for a few minutes, then went at them with an immersion blender and then a coarse sieve. So now I've got a cooked mulberry puree, unsweetened except for the natural sweetness in the berries. I think the first project for them is some PB&J bonbons, but that will only use a little bit of the puree I've got.

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

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