// Recipes //
USING CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS
ELDERBERRY CORDIAL
Blue Elderberry // Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea
ELDERBERRY CORDIAL
2 cups (500g) of elderberries
500g of water
350g of caster sugar
1/2 lemon, rind plus 1tbsp lemon juice
Rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, consuming Blue Elderberries naturally boosts the immune system. Studies have shown that Elderberries’ anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties have proven to be effective in treating and preventing colds and flu. Perhaps you may have noticed the plethora of Elderberry syrups, cough drops, lozenges, and gummies that fill the “Cold and Flu” aisle of your local natural foods store.
Step 1
Harvest the berries of the Blue Elder in the late summer or early fall, when the fruits are dark blue in color*. They might have a white powdery bloom on them, which is a natural occurrence when the fruits have reached maturity. Use scissors to snip entire clusters of berries off the branches.
Step 2
Time to separate the berries from their stems! The easiest way to do this is to first freeze the berry clusters. They don't need to be in the freezer for too long, just bag them up and leave them in there for an hour or two. This will make separating them from their stems much, much easier.
Step 3
Once you have picked all the berries off their stems, give them a good rinse in a strainer and make sure to remove any straggling pieces of stems. You don't want to accidentally mix to too many of the stems into your syrup as they are are mildly toxic.
Step 4
Drain the berries and place in a pan along with the lemon rind. Cover with the water and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, until the berries have broken down. Skim away any scum that appears on the surface
Step 5
Strain the juice through a colander lined with muslin cloth set over a bowl. Gently press the berries to extract as much juice as possible
Step 6
Return the juice to the pan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Gently heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved
Step 8
Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice to your taste
- Decant into a sterilized bottle and seal
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HollyLeaf Cherry // Prunus ilicifolia
Uses
The thin outer pulp of the fruit may be eaten, or made into a sweet sauce or drink by simmering it in a little water and adding lemon and sugar to taste. The kernel is dried, crushed, and leached. The nut can be substituted into acorn recipes and has traditionally been boiled into a soup by the Cahuilla. The bark was also used to make tea for treating colds.
The fruits were eaten both fresh and dried. The thin, sweet flesh was eaten sparingly as it was purported to upset the stomach if too much is consumed. The thin pulp was welcome moisture for thirsty hunters. The juice from the fruits was fermented and drunk. The kernels within the large pits were particularly valued for food by many Native Californians.
The Diegueño and the Cahuilla are among the tribes that treated colds and coughs with infusions made from hollyleaf cherry bark and roots (Almstedt 1977, Romero 1954). During the spring and summer, while the sap of the tree was running the infusion was made from the bark. During the winter, while the tree was dormant, the roots were used for the infusion. The Costanoan used the wood to make bows (Bocek 1984). The Tipai people of Baja California are among the few tribes that still gather islay today.
Harvest Time
Fall is the time to harvest hollyleaf cherry fruits. Cherries ripen best when allowed to fully mature on the tree. To harvest, simply pluck the fruits, including the long stem, from the trees, making sure to leave the knobby part at the top of the stem where it attaches to the tree. This part, called the fruit spur, is the point where next year's crop will grow from. Cherries ripen over several weeks in fall. Harvest daily as the fruits are ripening to get the cherries at their sweetest.
Kernel Uses
While the fruit is tasty and sweet, traditionally, the primary use of the hollyleaf cherry is the kernels. Native Californians ground the kernels into flour for use in baking and other traditional foods. Like other types of cherries, hollyleaf cherries have a pit covered by the kernel and then encased in fruit. The pit is poisonous and must be removed. Once the pit is removed, the remaining kernels can be cooked whole or ground into a flower.
Fruit Uses
Good fresh, dried or cooked, the hollyleaf cherry can be used as you would use commercial cherries. The fruits are exceptionally juicy, ideal for making into juice or fermenting for a sweet wine as the native Californians did. Cooked cherries are made into preserves, jams and jelly, or frozen for use throughout the year. When harvesting hollyleaf cherries, it's worth leaving a few fruits behind to encourage birds to visit your garden through the fall and early winter.