Blackberry & star anise jam

Make blackberry jam for free* in the summertime! If your garden or neighbourhood is overrun with brambles, you might consider them a right nuisance - but their fruits do make great foraging for a few weeks every summer. Naturally packed with pectin, it thickens when cooled. For an even thicker result, simply simmer for longer. Great on toast or in desserts. If you leave out the sugar, it would go great with meats like duck or venison.

Don’t skip the part where you strain the cooked mixture through the sieve - the berries' seeds are large and very hard compared to commercially cultivated fruit and can be particularly unpleasant to eat, or get stuck between your teeth.

Ingredients:

• Foraged blackberries

• Sugar (optional, to taste)

• Star anise (optional, add more for stronger flavour)

Tip: Pick these berries carefully, those vines are vicious… I don't recommend shorts and flip flops like in this video - especially when stinging nettles are growing at the base of the brambles! 

Also cook these berries straight away, don’t leave them overnight for the fruit fly larvae to hatch, trust me! 

*of course electricity/gas isn’t free, nor are the sugar and star anise - but those two are optional if you prefer to leave them out or add something else instead.