The elderberry is a shrub up to 7 m (23 ft high distributed throughout Europe, western Asia and North America. The white flowers, appearing in late spring - early summer, are followed by black fruits (nigra in Latin means black) - three-seeded berries, or rather drupes.
It is a biennial with large leaves and tall stems up to 1 m (3 ft) high, and a good plant for the herb garden because it is hardy and the leaves may be used throughout the winter when fresh herbs are scarce.
In the Middle Ages it was called `Oculus Christi', meaning the eye of Christ, and was added to vegetables and to meat dishes to give them a subtler taste. The famous French book Le menagier de Paris includes it among the herbs for flavouring vegetable omelettes and in a recipe for a green marinade for preserving fish. The seeds of clary were believed to counter 'eye weakness'.
The leaves are very aromatic and may be used both fresh and dried. They are added, together with the flowers of elderberry, to wine to give it a nutmeg-like flavour, hence the German name Muskateller-Salbei. They are also used to flavour jams and jellies. Nowadays clary is grown in Europe mainly for the extraction of the essential oil which has a lavender-like fragrance and is used in perfumery. In cookery it is used for the same purposes as common sage, but is rarely found on the kitchen shelf.
Their chief attraction in cookery is their lovely red colour which dissolves well in water. In former times elderberries were used to colour wine, chiefly port. They are added in small amounts to apple and pear compotes. In some north European countries they are used to make a fruit soup, eaten with baked apples and dumplings or toasted bread. They are also the principal ingredient of an old English ketchup called poulac.
It is very suitable for growing in the herb garden. Propagation is by means of seeds sown outdoors where the plants are to grow in early spring. The non-woody flowering top parts of the plant are gathered. These are tied in bunches and dried in a well-ventilated spot at a temperature not exceeding 35C (95F). They should then be stored in air-tight containers
It is a biennial with large leaves and tall stems up to 1 m (3 ft) high, and a good plant for the herb garden because it is hardy and the leaves may be used throughout the winter when fresh herbs are scarce.
In the Middle Ages it was called `Oculus Christi', meaning the eye of Christ, and was added to vegetables and to meat dishes to give them a subtler taste. The famous French book Le menagier de Paris includes it among the herbs for flavouring vegetable omelettes and in a recipe for a green marinade for preserving fish. The seeds of clary were believed to counter 'eye weakness'.
The leaves are very aromatic and may be used both fresh and dried. They are added, together with the flowers of elderberry, to wine to give it a nutmeg-like flavour, hence the German name Muskateller-Salbei. They are also used to flavour jams and jellies. Nowadays clary is grown in Europe mainly for the extraction of the essential oil which has a lavender-like fragrance and is used in perfumery. In cookery it is used for the same purposes as common sage, but is rarely found on the kitchen shelf.
Their chief attraction in cookery is their lovely red colour which dissolves well in water. In former times elderberries were used to colour wine, chiefly port. They are added in small amounts to apple and pear compotes. In some north European countries they are used to make a fruit soup, eaten with baked apples and dumplings or toasted bread. They are also the principal ingredient of an old English ketchup called poulac.
It is very suitable for growing in the herb garden. Propagation is by means of seeds sown outdoors where the plants are to grow in early spring. The non-woody flowering top parts of the plant are gathered. These are tied in bunches and dried in a well-ventilated spot at a temperature not exceeding 35C (95F). They should then be stored in air-tight containers
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