I offer an alternative to all the vital reportage on Georgia’s national crisis. I know it’s happening, am witness to it, and pray for peace and good outcomes. And here are other stories too.
The marvelous bright orange berries (katsvi in Georgian), appearing in a few of Georgia’s markets, very sour but superb when sugared, shouldn’t all go to the birds which love them. They’re about the highest thing there is in vitamin C, and need no pectin added to make jam by boiling with at least their own weight of sugar. But you can get something almost as thick as jam with no boiling at all.
Sea buckthorn (its full name in English) is only now coming down from early frosts on its bushes in the mountains into the markets of east Georgia and Tbilisi, while remaining virtually unknown in the west of the country. In Gldani, though, there’s been only one seller that I could find in the whole large bazaar, so you might have to look around. The first batch I bought was 20 GEL/kilo, the second 15, and it’ll come down in price as it gets more available, then quickly disappear sometime in December. Act now to avoid disappointment!
I buy a couple of kilos at a time. Put them either all together or in parts into a bowl well covered with water; the small leaves and bad berries, darker in color all the way to black, will float to the surface, where you are waiting with a small strainer to remove and discard them. Do this until all you have is the good stuff. Then strain this of all its water and put into a bowl or pot with enough room leftover for at least the same weight of sugar.
Mash the berries with a potato masher to get a good deal of juice; you don’t need to burst them all, each with its single seed. Then add the sugar and mix well. Stir and cover. Leave on the counter, stirring a couple of times a day, until all the sugar is dissolved, usually in a few days. Put it all into a blender, and blend on low speed.
Strain this through something fine enough to get everything but the syrup; coarser than a coffee filter, for sure. Put it into clean, sterilized jars and cover. Keep the jars in a cool place or fridge. Leave the lid off the jar currently being used, and it will slowly thicken to spreadable consistency.
I first encountered sea buckthorn jam in late autumn of 1993, in the Ural Mountains of Russia, visiting there with a friend from St Petersburg. I instantly fell in love with its exotic sweet-tartness, unusual for someone who doesn’t eat enough fruit. We’ve been inseparable ever since. The western world hardly knows what it is, to our detriment.
Pour it on vanilla or chocolate ice cream; make a soothing drink by adding it to hot water; mix it with sparkling Georgian mineral water for a fizzy drink. Put it on bread, or crackers. Find a cheese to pair it with, maybe something of the strong cheddar or gouda types. Use it as the main flavor in sweet & sour sauce, or as part of a marinade. Flavor cake or muffin mix or icing with it… such possibilities!
Or make a liqueur with the whole berries and Smirnoff Red Label vodka (no taste of its own), steeping for at least a month in a covered jar, stirring daily. Mash well, strain finely, add boiled sugar syrup to taste, bottle, let sit in darkness for a month. Ready, and so good. This is how to make any liqueur, by the way. You’ll need more time if your main ingredient is larger than these tiny berries, to extract the flavor. You can use any other strong spirit: brandy, rum, whisky and so on, although these will add their own flavor, as will any other sugar than plain white sugar. Honey, maple syrup, brown sugar and others are possibilities.
Buckthorn: something to get you through the winter in fine style. Enjoy. Worth the effort.
Blog by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
