Currant-sized, tart and dry rowanberries are very popular with birds. They are inedible, and slightly toxic when raw, but no one in their right mind would eat them raw. Learn more about Scandinavian rowanberry.
The taste of rowanberry is pleasingly bitter, and extremely aromatic when cooked. The rowan, or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), is a small deciduous tree that bears the vividly orange berries in August. A fast-growing pioneer species that invades disturbed ground, the rowan will grow almost anywhere. The berries from other Sorbus species are also edible.
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Related: Scandinavians and Strawberries
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Culinary uses
The tannic, bitter taste of the berries can be extracted into cordials, and a delicious jelly. The berries are rich in pectin, so the jelly naturally sets well. It is beautiful with game and roast beef, with apples or simply on toast.
The berries are an important ingredient in the famous digestif Gammel Dansk, which owes much of its taste and bitterness to rowanberries. The berries are a much-used ingredient in flavored schnapps.
The berry itself is not used as a fruit, because the dryness and seeds are not too interesting, though some species were formerly dried and used as we use raisins.
Jelly is made in the same way as the crab apple jelly.
Scandinavian Rowanberry, written by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image on top: Photo – Wikipedia.