Saturday, November 18, 2006

MIRTICCI


... or mortidda, I am told, in Sicilian dialect.

I didn't really know what to do with these, but as regular readers will know by now, I'll experiment with any new food! So I phoned a friend to find out and learnt that they are really just a staple, eaten as they are, at the Christmas table. They taste a bit like blueberries but are seedier. Another friend here plonks one or two of them into your gin and tonic, along with the ice. I am going to pour gin over this lot, add a couple of clementine leaves, leave it all for a month or two and see what happens. I'll let you know!

Irma gave me some myrtle berries [bilberries or whortleberries] so I substituted them for part of the weight of apples in an apple chutney recipe and it has turned out rather well. For American readers who may not know of chutney, it is a little like your salsa, but much thicker and it is a preserve. The colonial British invented it when they discovered Indian fruits and spices.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

More delecious sounding items. Soaking them in Gin sounds good.

Anonymous said...

Funny hearing our chutney described as a kind of salsa, I suppose they are used for similar purposes in some respects, they are both relishes. This fruit sounds amazing, you are becoming a very accomplished cook.
I shall be cooking breast of lamb in fresh herbs from the garden with garlic and red wine, very slowly, just a change from the Sunday roast. And lighting a coal fire too, reading my papers, it's getting chilly now.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Steve. Well, it works for damsons, sloes and raspberries so hopefully it will work with these. Hello, Ellee. Your lamb recipe sounds delicious and I am hungry! I've just turned the heating on here though it has been sunny most of the day.

Anonymous said...

The lamb was good, and the fire too. It's lamb leftovers tonight!

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