Hawthorn ketchup

Foraging diaries # 22: haws.

I saw red berries on a tree. I did not know what tree it was so I picked one cluster of berries and leaves, took it home and searched online.

I found out the tree was a common hawthorn (Crataegus monhogyna), also known as May tree, and the berries are called haws.

There were so many berries in the tree and I could find a few trees so my next question was: what can I do with haw berries? Wild Food UK's recipe 'Hawthorn ketchup' caught my eye. I added bay leaf and cloves to it and I think it has improved the recipe.

Haws are very small so a bag full of them takes some time to pick. Preparing them to cook by removing leaves & stems and discarding damaged, mouldy or shrivelled berries takes even more time. Be patient!

I picked the berries in early October but I was running out of jars so I couldn't use them immediately. Also, like sloes, haw berries are best after a frost so it was a no brainer: I froze them. Freezing mimics a frost and I could de-frost them later once I had jars available.

Hawthorn ketchup doesn't taste like tomato ketchup. It has a particular taste, rich and smoky. We tried it on top of spaghetti and it's good.

Serves: 500ml.

Ingredients:

• 550g haws
• 385ml cider vinegar
• 385ml water
• 165g sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• ½ paprika (the recipe called for cayenne pepper but I don't usually use this so I improvised with paprika instead)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves

Method:

1. Pick the berries, remove the leaves and stems and discard any berries that are damaged, mouldy or shrivelled. Rinse and drain them. At this stage, I froze them.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Put the berries in a stainless steel pan with the vinegar and water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 min or until the skins have split and the flesh of the berries is soft.
   
   
   
3. Sieve the liquid and use a spoon to push as much pulp through the mesh as you can. The more pulp you extract, the thicker and more flavoresome the ketchup will be. It's hard work and my wrist was sore by the end. 
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Scrape as much pulp from the bottom of the sieve as you can.
   

   
   
4. Return the liquid and pulp to the pan, add the sugar, salt & pepper to taste, paprika, bay leaf and cloves. Bring to the boil, stirring gently until the sugar dissolves.
   
   
   
5. Reduce the heat and simmer the liquid to your preferred thickness - you're aiming for a consistency similar to ketchup. Depending on how much pulp you've managed to extract, this will take anywhere between 5 and 15 min. It took me 15min.
6. Pour into sterilized bottles or jars, and leave for at least 1 month before eating - the flavour will deepen and grow richer. Once opened, refrigerate.