Читать книгу The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles. Learn How To Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods онлайн

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EDIBLE PARTS & PREPARATION:

The flesh of fully ripe autumn olive drupes is tart, but not astringent. The kitchen tool of choice for separating the pulp and juice from the seeds, skins and stemlets is a food strainer. Dehydrating the juicy pulp produces delightfully sour fruit leather. See page 108 for how to make Fabulous Fruit Leather. The juice is a thirst-quenching replacement for lemonade that will wow your taste buds. The fragrant flowers make a nice tea.

WHEN TO HARVEST:

September and October. Ripe drupes that become rose-colored and almost spherical seem promising, but must be taste-tested before picking. Ideally, they should be pleasantly sour with no astringent (mouth-drying) aftertaste. If one drupe tastes good, all the drupes on that particular bush will be worth picking. Otherwise, skip that bush and try another.

SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING:

As long as you avoid breaking a branch, gathering fruit does no harm to the bushes.

PRESERVING THE HARVEST:

Fruit leather can be stored for a year at room temperature in a lidded container kept in the dark.