Rowan Berry, Rhubarb & Apple Beverage

A three-in-one, not so sweet, mealtime beverage. Its sour taste improves appetite and helps food digestion.































INGREDIENTS:

* 1000 ml cleaned pre-frozen rowan berries

* 1000 ml rhubarb chunks

* 1000 ml juicy apple chunks, with the core and peel (pears work well too)

* 1 tablespoon citric acid

* 2000 ml boiling water

* 250 - 300 ml sugar per litre of finished juice



METHOD:

1. Crush the rowan berries slightly.

2. Place the rowan berries, rhubarb chunks and apple chunks in a bowl.

3. Sprinkle the citric acid over the mixture.

4. Pour over boiling water and stir.

5. Cover and leave in a cool place for 48 hours, stirring it at frequent intervals.

6. Strain off the juice, add the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.

7. Pour into clean bottles.

8. To serve, mix the juice with 2 or 3 parts water and drink chilled.



This beverage will keep, refrigerated, for only two weeks.



Some people say the rowan berries are poisonous. Others state the opposite. When you are looking for facts, you will find they are both right. The seeds of raw (European) rowan berries contain about 0.4 % - 0.7 % parasorbic acid which may cause indigestion and upset the stomach. Luckily, they are too astringent to be eaten raw directly from the tree. They taste really bad.



Frozen berries can be used for jam, juice or wine making without fear, since the seeds are strained out when the berries are juiced. Cooking, heat-drying, and to a lesser extent freezing, neutralise the parasorbic acid by changing it to the harmless sorbic acid.



If you feel doubt about using rowan berries, leave them out on the trees for the birds to feed on. They are valuable food for them because they contain both minerals and vitamins (A, K, E, B1, lots of vitamin C, carotene (the peel)...



Back in the old days, "Bondepraktikan" (the Farmer's Almanac) was a book that could be found in the homes of most Swedish farmers. It had to do with the farmer's work but it also predicted the weather based on certain signs in nature. Lots of rowan berries were said to be the sign of a very cold winter with lots of snow to come.



If that was true, it would mean that my closest neighbor would get a mild winter with little snow because there are no berries on the branches of his rowan tree. There are lots of them over at my yard. He who lives will see what will happen when winter comes in due time.