Monday 22 June 2015

Tayberries.



If you have a free square metre of land, may I suggest that you buy a Tayberry plant.

You only need to buy ONE, as they send out suckers by the dozen, and in a couple of years you'd have plenty.

I freeze my excess, and I also make wonderful Tayberry/Raspberry Vinegar.

Thus: Fill a bowl with however many Tayberries or Raspberries you have, cover with colourless vinegar, add as much sugar as seems reasonable, then wait a few days before straining through muslin into bottles. Wonderful on Summer salads (and for coughs).

Otherwise we eat ours with Vanilla Ice Cream.... Nice.



24 comments:

  1. Tayberries looks beautiful. They are another version of strawberries. They look same too...

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    Replies
    1. I think they're a cross between Raspberries and Blackberries; but much bigger.

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  2. I do love Tayberry Jam. I would not expect to buy some from our farmer's market for another month, however, now I will look. Maybe, I will be lucky. Meanwhile, I will be satisfied with the Olallieberry jam that my daughter sent me from CA. Do you have that? It is very similar to Tayberry. The key is not to pick too early..

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    Replies
    1. I think they all have the same ancestry; Raspberries and Blackberries. With the Olallieberry the Blackberry genes are more dominant than the Raspberry.

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  3. Cro... how about making your own Tayberry Vodka / Brandy / White Rum...
    whichever is your chosen spirit.

    Method:
    1.5 litre Le Parfait jar...
    fill to top with Tayberries...
    add two heaped tablespoons of sugar...
    more can be added at the filtering stage if needed...
    close jar and shake vigorously...
    the jar... the jar!!
    Top jar up with liquor of choice...
    close lid and shake the jar again to mix everything up well...
    leave jar in a cold, dark place for three to six months...
    strain through muslin and bottle into brown glass...
    clear is fine for gifts, but the colour changes if left in the light of a room!
    This last stage is when you can adjust the sweetness to taste.

    Enjoy over the winter months.

    The sludge from the straining is wonderful if turned into a jelly... but make a red jelly and stir in the sludge before it sets... otherwise you lose the "kick".

    Same method can be used with any excess soft fruit....
    just need to match the liquor flavour [or lack thereof] with the fruit...
    viz: brandy with blackcurrants or cherries, Dutch gin with redcurrants, vodka with anything as it has no flavour of its own....

    If you want to use the fruit that is left, use a low ABV liquor [37%]... usually the cheapest, too...
    DON'T shake the jar... leave for a full six months.
    Enjoy the fruit and a slightly lower strength tipple with your Christmas/Winter Solstice food and after!

    Tim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tim. Sounds even better than my Tayberry vinegar, although the process is much the same.

      Please return tomorrow, as much will be revealed.

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    2. Surely not full-frontal Tayberries!!
      Shock, horror...

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  4. They look delicious. With clotted cream would be divine.

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    Replies
    1. I have to think of my figure.... not too much, of course.

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  5. I have my first raspberry plant in a pot....does it need to go in the ground Cro?

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    Replies
    1. It'll certainly do better in the ground, and the suckers will have room to spread.

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  6. Scotland deserves a mention so I will do the honours. From the banks of the River Tay.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds like a McGonagall poem...

      Oh sweet fruit from the banks of the silvery Tay,
      Twas in 2015, on a fine and sunny day,
      When a plateful was gleaned and eaten,
      the flavour never to be beaten.

      Delete
  7. Sounds interesting Cro - I wonder if it is a cross between two berry fruits one of which is a raspberry.

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  8. We've got these growing against the barn wall. They keep going all summer. I just thought they were big raspberries! I like the sound of Tayberry vodka!

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    Replies
    1. They grow like crazy,I have to pick them daily.

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  9. They sound absolutely delicious with ice cream !

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  10. The vinegar and the brandy sound too good to not try. I think weAmericans call tayberries black raspberries. ..

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    Replies
    1. No... there is a Black Raspberry strain that is American!!
      And it is what the French call "remontant"...
      crops twice....
      produces from June to end of July...
      and then again with a smaller crop in September from that years new growth!!
      Very tasty, very rich flavour.

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    2. I used to have some of those; no idea what happened to them.

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  11. There's that handsome green glazed plate again, it sets off the red berries beautifully. I must look out for a tayberry, I think it would grow very well here.

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  12. At my last location, we had wineberries, which looked like very small raspberries or tayberries. The "remontant" berries LaPré DelaForge mentioned we have on this side of the Pond, too. We call those "everbearing," although where I live, we usually don't get the second crop as it comes in early October here and usually the frost arrives just before to kill it.

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