Oh my goodness – how can it be Midsummer already? Where has the first half of the year gone? The longest day is on the 21st June, marking the point where we move to the shortening of the days towards winter again. But let’s not think of winter just now but revel in the warmth and light. I love this time of year – long evenings, warm (if slightly wet) weather and still the promise of summer to come in July and August. Of course summer means holidays and summer berries in all their fabulous, ruby glory. Get out and pick your own and they will taste so much better than the shop bought ones and you will enjoy the exercise and the time in nature too.
Small wild strawberries and a perfect treat on a walk if you can find them hiding under their foliage – all the intensity of flavour of a farmed strawberry but packed into that tiny red package of goodness. If you are out on the hills it is the blaeberries that are the foraging treat to get you up the incline. I hold dear those childhood memories of Highland holidays gorging on as many as we could pick and coming home with faces, tongues and fingers stained scarlet for days afterwards. But for me, the queen of berries is the raspberry. The dark redness of the colour, the rich and tart flavour (not too sweet) make it a right royal treat. Wild raspberries grow everywhere in Scotland on paths and woodland edges just ready for picking at waist height (high enough to be away from the obvious doggy pee worry that is ever present when foraging). My dog Jess likes them too and will reach to delicately sook them off the cane when we are out on a walk.
The red or purple flavour molecules in berries are called anthocyanins, and they are a type of antioxidant. They are believed to help prevent health conditions connected to inflammation and oxidative stress. So eating a mixture of as many different red coloured berries as possible is great for your health. When you eat wild berries, you benefit too from the wild microbiome (the mixture of wild bacteria and yeasts) on the outside of the fruit too. A diverse gut microbiome is associated with good gut health and can alleviate some bowel conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. Remember to pick wild fruit only from where you are sure it has not been sprayed with any chemicals nor is growing in contaminated soil.
Raspberries pair so well with so many other flavours like chocolate, lemon and other citrus fruit, making them really versatile in food and drinks pairings. And unlike strawberries, raspberries freeze very well, keeping their flavour and form so it is easy to hold onto a little bit of summer to bring a glint of sunshine to your drinks later in the year too.
Of course we have included a kid’s recipe here for the summer holidays – a Raspberry and Rosebay smoothie, that will keep the bairns cool and full on those long summer days. For the adults on holiday too, an easy peasy summer celebration or party cocktail that looks stunning is to mix raspberry puree in a glass of fizzy wine. If you are up for trying something a bit more complex (both in flavour profile and in the putting together) have a go at our Wild Paloma below which layers citrus from grapefruit and lime, berry from raspberry liqueur and forest flavours from the Larch and Honeysuckle spirit. A divine, long and complex summer spectacular of a cocktail – fit for a queen.
Raspberry Smoothie for the kids
150mls milk (use dairy or oat milk)
A handful (5-8) of fresh or frozen raspberries
A few ice cubes
25mls Rosebay syrup
Whizz for a few seconds in a blender and serve in a chilled glass
Raspberry Fizz
125mls Prosecco or Cava
25mls Raspberry puree
Garnish with a whole fresh raspberry
To make the puree: blend fresh or defrosted frozen raspberries and push through a fine sieve with a spoon to remove the seeds). Freeze the puree in an ice cube tray for ease of use later
Wild Paloma
25mls Larch and Honeysuckle Spirit
50mls Grapefruit Juice
10mls lime juice
100mls soda water
25mls Raspberry Liqueur, our pals at Tayport Distillery make a cracking Scottish one
Combine the juices, spirit and soda water in a glass with the ice and mix well. Drizzle the raspberry liqueur over the top. Garnish with a slice of lime or grapefruit.
Remember to practice sustainable foraging: be sure you have identified the plant correctly, pick only what you need and take a little from many different plants and places. See https://foragers-association.org/principles for more information.
