Ingredient of the month: Gooseberry

You voted and gooseberries it is!

I don’t think that when I was picking them off of the bushes in my grandparents’ garden, I ever thought that these can be so versatile. We did make jam or chutney with them sometimes but mostly just ate them fresh, biting into that unmistakable taste of late summer. Gooseberries are fickle for growing but, luckily for us, not as fickle for cooking!

I am most excited to try this Burmese gooseberry salad with gooseberries, peanuts,  onion, red chili, and (help, Minyi, where can I find this in London?!) belacan or Malaysian shrimp paste.

Gooseberries also make a great accompaniment to game and poultry. Here is a great recipe for duck with a gooseberry sauce. Or, curiously, baked mackerel with gooseberry sauce.

But, really, we most often find gooseberries playing the tart, fresh foil in sweet desserts such as:

Gooseberry fool and in cupcake form

Gooseberry meringue pie (or tart)

Gooseberry sorbet sandwiches

and I really, really want to try these gooseberry flapjacks, already so good with apricots and dates, can’t wait to see how the gooseberries play off of the crispy oats and almonds.

Happy cooking!