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Dessert

Green Gooseberries, Wet

A preserved green gooseberry dish made by steeping in water and syrup over several days.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Green Gooseberries, Wet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gooseberries

  1. Scald the gooseberries over the fire without boiling.

  2. Transfer them to a tub and let them stand for three days.

  3. Drain the liquid and place the gooseberries in another pan with water and a little syrup.

  4. Heat gently until warm, but do not boil.

Thicken the syrup

  1. The next day, strain the liquid again and place the gooseberries in an earthen pan.

  2. Pour boiling hot thin syrup over the gooseberries.

  3. Repeat this process once a day for six days, gradually thickening the syrup.

  4. Finally, transfer the gooseberries into pots.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Gooseberries
The fruit that is preserved; it is scalded and soaked so it holds its shape in the syrup.
Syrup
Sweetens the fruit and, as it is repeatedly thickened, coats and preserves it.

The step that matters

Heating without boiling. Scalding and warming the gooseberries gently keeps the skins intact and the fruit firm. Boiling would soften the fruit and break it down, spoiling its shape before the syrup has thickened around it.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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