Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Whitebeam along with all the Whitebeam containing recipes presented on this site, with 3 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 Whitebeam as a major wild food ingredient.

Whitebeam, Sorbus aria, (also known as Common Whitebeam, Hen-apple, Beam Tree, Chess-apple, Cumberland Hawthorn, Hoar Withy, Lot-tree, Mulberry, Sea Ouler, Pear Tree, Wild Cowbin, Quick Beam, White Rice, Serviceberry, Whip-beam, Whipcrop, Whiteleaf Tree) is a compact, domed deciduous tree belonging to the Rosaceae (rose) family of flowering plants. It is native to Europe, with a native habitat that extends from Britain and France to Spain in the South and east to Macedonia and Transylvania. The tree is hardy and typically grows to 12m by 8m in size. The plant prefers chalky soils, but can grow in almost any soil type, but requires good drainage. The tree bears flowers from May to June and these are hermaphrodite and are insect pollinated. The fruit ripen from September to October. The most notable feature of Sorbus aria are the tree's leaves which have a green upper surface, but have hundreds of tiny white hairs on the underside that give them a silvery white look. Indeed, it is this that gives the tree it's name of 'whitebeam'.

By October, the fruit have ripened into small, bright, red berries. It is a relative of both the wild service tree and the rowan tree and in the past the fruit were used to make fruit jellies (they are still used in parts of Eastern Europe to make wine and spirits). Much sweeter than rowan berries, the fruit do not contain nearly as much of the toxic chemical presorbic acid, but preparation should be taken when collecting and cooking. It should also be noted that the seeds probably contain hydrogen cyanide. However, unless the seed is very bitter it's likely that the fruit is perfectly safe to consume and cooking will drive off the volatile hydrogen cyanide. The seeds are also discarded when making wine or fruit-infused spirits from whitebeam fruit. The fruit is usually bletted if it is going to be eaten raw. This involves storing the fruit in a cool dry place until it is almost but not quite going rotten. At this stage the fruit has a delicious taste; somewhat reminiscent of a flavoursome tropical fruit. It is at this stage that the fruit is best for making fruit liqueurs. Whitebeam jelly was traditionally used as a sauce to accompany venison. The whole fruit can also be dried and ground and makes an excellent flavouring for grain flours. It used to be a bread adulterant in France, especially in times of drought.

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