To Keep Gooseberries

Ingredients

• Gooseberries
• Coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
• Roach-alum
• Water

Directions

1. Gather gooseberries when they are large, removing the stalks and buds.

2. Place the gooseberries in wide-mouthed bottles and loosely cork them.

3. Submerge the bottles in a boiler of water up to the neck.

4. When the fruit looks scalded, remove the bottles and let them cool.

5. Cork the bottles tightly and seal the tops with rosin.

6. Dig a trench in a less-used part of the garden, deep enough to bury the bottles by a foot.

7. Cover the bottles with fresh litter to protect them from dirt.

8. Prepare boiling water with dissolved roach-alum until it has a slight roughness.

9. Place gooseberries in a large sieve without overlapping.

10. Submerge the sieve in the boiling water until the gooseberries are heated, then gently transfer them to a cloth.