Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Sea-buckthorn along with all the Sea-buckthorn containing recipes presented on this site, with 12 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Sea-buckthorn as a major wild food ingredient.

The Common Sea-buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides, (also known as sea buckthorn, seabuckthorn, sandthorn and seaberry) is a deciduous shrub in the Elaeagnaceae (oleaster) family of flowering plants. There are 6 species and 12 subspecies native over a wide area of Europe and Asia, including China, Mongolia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Typically the shrubs grow between 50cm and 6m tall and common sea-buckthorn is by far the most widespread species. Common sea-buckthorn has branches that are dense and stiff, and very thorny. The leaves are a distinct pale silvery-green, lanceolate, 3–8 cm long and less than 7 mm broad. The plant is is dioecious, with separate male and female plants and the male produces brownish flowers which produce wind-distributed pollen. To bear fruit, therefore, both male and female plants have to be panted together. The shrubs flower in May and the male plants produce orange berries 6–9 mm in diameter, soft, juicy and rich in oils which ripen in September and October. The fruit is ripe from late September and usually hangs on the plants all winter if not eaten by the birds. It is best used before any frosts since the taste and quality of frosted berries quickly deteriorates.

They are tolerant of salt in the air and soil, but demand full sunlight for good growth and do not tolerate shady conditions near larger trees. As a result, sea-buckthorn is most commonly found on coastal verges. Although usually found near the coast in the wild, they thrive when grown inland and the thorny branches makes them an ideal hedging plant. Though the fruit of sea-buckthorn is too tart for most tastes when eaten raw they become sweeter when frozen and are a very good source of vitamins C and A. They can be made into pies, jams, jellies, sauces and a range of desserts and are commonly used for this purpose in Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Russia. The high concentrations of antioxidants and vitamins in sea-buckthorn fruit has led to increasing interest in this wild food as a potential 'superfood'.

During the Cold War, Russian and East German horticulturists developed new varieties with greater nutritional value, larger berries, different ripening months and a branch that is easier to harvest. There is now renewed interest in these cultivars and the most notable of these cultivars include:

• Leikora: large bush with large, ornamental berries. Like most German varieties, it shrugs off volatile spring weather.



• Novostj Altaja: fewer thorns than average, adapted to long, cold winters, productive. The fruit is less acidic but less nutritional than average.



• Otradnaya: early ripening, vigorous, good for harsh winters.



• Prevoshodnaya: a new Russian variety, reported to be very ornamental. The berries are better than average for eating out-of-hand.

If it's a mild autumn then sea-buckthorn fruit is one of those fruit that can be harvested after all the other fruit have dropped or been eaten by birds. It's a late autumn treat and the pulp or fruit can be frozen for later use. One traditional storage method is also to dry the fruit and to powder them for use as a condiment or flavouring. It should be noted that it can be difficult to harvest sea-buckthorn berries and whilst it is possible to harvest by hand the traditional method is to cut the fruit-bearing branches, freeze them then strip the fruit off with a blade (this, however, harms the plants and is not recommended).

Sea buckthorn fruit are too acid for most people to be eaten raw (though many children relish them). Instead they are sweetened to make fruit juices, preserves, sauces (these work as sweet sauces and as tart sauces to accompany fatty meats). Sea buckthorn berries can also be preserved in syrup for later use or they can be sweetened and dried. The fruit also become sweeter after a frost or when they are cooked.

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants