Sloe ✦

Prunelle

What it is

A single whole sloe was recovered from the ice beside Ötzi, who died in the Alps around 3300 BC carrying it well out of season — so it had been dried and kept. Frost is what breaks the fruit down; before the first hard night the tannin is fierce enough to dry the mouth shut.

In the kitchen

If the frost is late, freeze the sloes forty-eight hours and prick each one — it does the same work of splitting the skin. For liqueur, count 500 g of fruit and 350 g of sugar per litre of spirit, and give it three months before you judge it.

Goes with

White sugar Juniper berry Almond Venison Apple Bay leaf Blackcurrant

Same species

Bergeron apricot Almond Almond flour Almond oil Amardine Amarena cherry in syrup

In season alongside

Lingonberry Cranberry Damson Grapefruit Rowan berry Blackberry

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us