At this time of year, the hedgerows are just mesmerising. Dotted with the subtle blue of sloes, the vibrant reds of haws and rosehips, and the occasional electric green or yellow pop of crab apples... basically, if anyone wants me, find me in the hedge!
Now that I've mentioned crab apples, I really want to start going on about crab apple brandy and how delicious it is, but I'll save that particular ramble for another day. Because... we are here today to talk about haw ketchup!
I've always believed that making jam or ketchup from haws was one of those really involved things that I just couldn't face. Much better, I thought, to stick with what I know works and bung the berries in some vodka! And whilst that definitely is a very good and legit thing to do with haws (haw tincture is a powerful heart and immune tonic), it turns out that making a ketchup is nowhere near as faffy as I thought, and not only that, but the end product is absolutely lip-smacking!
But let's backtrack just a tiny bit. What on earth are those haws you are on about, I hear you ask? They are the berries which start appearing on hawthorn trees in late summer/early autumn and often grace us with their presence until well into the winter. Alright, and what's all this talk of ketchup about? Well, I can only imagine that someone at some point got halfway through making haw jam and then thought 'Do you know what, I might just chuck some vinegar and a few pinches of salt and pepper in here, never did understand what this obsession with sweet jams was all about!'
So, absolutely no tomatoes involved, and if you ask me, it produces a much superior ketchup too. Basically the process involves picking half a kilo of haws, boiling them up with some water and vinegar, straining out the pips once the berries have gone mushy, then adding sugar, salt and pepper to the pulp and simmering this for another little while. I based mine on this recipe (slightly reducing the amounts of liquid) and it came out beautifully. So beautifully, in fact, that I've already gone and made second and third batches. It's amazing how much the colour can vary depending on the colour berries you pick - from lightly ketchup-coloured to an almost cherry red as pictured below.
As always, make sure you can positively identify hawthorn berries before going out picking, and do forage responsibly. Hawthorn is a tree that's well worth getting familiar with throughout the seasons, as it provides edible and medicinal flowers and leaves in the spring, too. This page provides a few handy ID tips and some background on hawthorn's medicinal uses and folklore.
So... see you in the hedge?!
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