Havtorn (Hippophae) berries are in season this time of year. In English they are called sea buckthorn, but I had never heard of them before I arrived here. They normally grow by the ocean, but on campus someone planted some. I had wanted to try them since I first saw the expensive preserves at the store. I soon found out why they are so expensive...harvesting is very difficult. The berries leave their branch reluctantly and all the while birds shriek at you (although maybe they were just mad at me for some other reason). If you aren't careful they burst in your hand.
They are unusual berries, filled with a creamy orange liquid that tastes a little like bitter oranges. Supposedly they are a "superfood," full of vitamins and antioxidants, as well as fatty acids.
I have made several jams out of local berries here. Red currants, which grow abundantly here, and strawberries make wonderful jams. However, havtorn jam proved frustrating. The berries don't really break down when you boil they and I ruined the whole batch because I had one, yes one, unripe berry, which made everything bitter.
Oh well, now there will be English web-documentation on the subject.
My Recipe:
Don't put unripe havtorn in your recipes. You can tell they are unripe because they are reddish instead of bright orange and they are quite hard.
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