Chokecherry Syrup

Chokecherry Syrup

Late summer marks the return of a northern treasure - the chokecherry.


Photo Credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4107/4974600717_a5978af034_z.jpg

I love chokecherries, and have loved them for as long as I can remember. In fact, When I lived for a few years in Lewistown, Montana, one of my favourite times of the year was the Chokecherry Festival, held in early September.


Photo Credit: http://www.anauthenticlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_6899.jpg

Those of you not living in the northern United States or southern Canada are probably asking, what is a chokecherry? Well, it’s hard to describe, even though I’ve lived with them all my life. The are small, dark-purple, berry-like fruits growing in clusters on bushes that can be found just about anywhere in the northern USA, east of the Rocky Mountains - or in southern Canada.

For those interested, here is the distribution of the chokecherry:



Along roadsides, in meadows or even in back yards, these hardy shrubs are easily recognised by their white blossoms in the spring, and their locations are carefully marked against the day that the cherries ripen later in the year.




Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/86953562@N00/237179619/sizes/m/in/photostream/

They are quite astringent when eaten fresh, but the addition of some sugar (or other sweetener) transforms them into something wonderful and unique - a truly special treat that has everyone - from old grandmothers to twenty-something bachelors - buying canning jars in order to preserve chokecherries in almost any form imaginable: syrup, jam, jelly, wine...even mead.

Wikipedia provides a more scientific description:

Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for P. virginiana var. demissa), is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America; the natural historic range of P. virginiana includes most of the continent, except for the far north and far south.

Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 16 feet tall. The leaves are oval, 1.25–4 in. long, with a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in racemes of 15-30 in late spring (well after leaf emergence). The fruit are about [4/10 of an inch in] diameter, range in color from bright red to black, with a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. The very ripe berries are dark in color and less astringent and more sweet than the red berries…. Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, such as anthocyanins….

For many Native American tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest region of Canada and the United States, chokecherries were the most important fruit in their diets. The bark of chokecherry root was once made into an asperous-textured concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies by native Americans The inner bark of the chokecherry, as well as red osier dogwood, or alder, was also used by natives in their smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, to improve the taste of the bearberry leaf. The chokecherry fruit can be used to make a jam, jelly, or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit requires sugar to sweeten the preserves….

Chokecherry is also used to craft wine in the western United States mainly in the Dakotas and Utah as well as in Manitoba, Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_virginiana

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In addition, Wiki relates that the chokecherry plays a very important role in my ancestral state of North Dakota:

In 2007, Governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the official fruit of the state of North Dakota, in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else.

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The most basic product made from chokecherries is chokecherry syrup; in fact, this syrup, called wojapi in the Lakota tongue, was and remains a favourite condiment for Native American frybread:



http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/native-american-frybread_topic2472.html

While going through some old clippings and recipes, I found instructions for making chokecherry syrup written by my father - who was born and raised in Killdeer, North Dakota; this recipe came from his mother - my grandmother - and lays out the procedure pretty well:

Chokecherry Syrup

In a large pot, cover cherries with water. Bring to a boil, cover pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and gently mash cherries with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Do not break the pits.

Drain juice off using a strainer, cheesecloth or food mill, taking care not to mash the pits. Bring the juice to a slow boil and add 1 cup of sugar for each 1 cup of juice. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Set sterilised canning jars on the rack in the canner and add syrup to jars, filling to 1/4-inch from the top. Screw the lids onto the jars. Cover the jars with at least 1 inch of water and bring to a rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Set the jars in a draft-free place and allow to cool naturally. Check for seal.

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For reference, here is a recent experience that I had when making chokecherry syrup, so that you can get an idea of how many chokecherries will make how much syrup. I had exactly 6.5 pounds of chokecherries left for syrup. Being as careful as I could be with the process, I ended up with 5 pints, 1 half-pint and 1 quarter-pint (luckily, I had one such jar on-hand to use) of syrup. This is of course subject to minor variations, of course, but should give you a ballpark to play in.

There was just enough left over to sample a taste, and I must say that it turned out very well! We may or may not make more chokecherry syrup this year, depending on how things go, but we will, at least, have some to get us through the winter.

People actually eat that stuff?

Few years back I got my daughter to try a choke cherry while camping on North Manitou Island west of TC area. I think that's when she started not trying new foods, and/or trusting me.

Chokecherries are kind of like anchovies, Homer: if you try them out of context, you will never enjoy them; but if they are tried in the right way, you will love them forever.

My son and I enjoy chokecherries right off the tree (bush, shrub) when they are ripe, but they are even better when made into syrup, jam, jelly or wine. I'll be experimenting with them here in a wheat beer soon, as well.

TasunkaWitko said:

Chokecherries are kind of like anchovies, Homer: if you try them out of context, you will never enjoy them; but if they are tried in the right way, you will love them forever.

My son and I enjoy chokecherries right off the tree (bush, shrub) when they are ripe, but they are even better when made into syrup, jam, jelly or wine. I'll be experimenting with them here in a wheat beer soon, as well.

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Actually, what we ate was on a very tree--like plant. maybe it was a Pin Cherry, not a choke cherry.

In any case, it was very astringent and sour and bitter.

Chokeherries are indeed astringent, especially when they are under-ripe - but I've never found them to be overly-bitter. It's possible they weren't quite ripe.

Ripe chokecherries are very, very dark purple, almost black, and are only slightly astringent. The taste sweetens up quite as summer turns into fall. In my opinion, many or most of the ones in the top photo of the opening post have been picked too early, but they sure look nice in that bowl!

Also, my son and I discovered that the berries picked from bushes where the leaves have turned (usually a red or yellowish red, like the photo in the opening post) are noticeably plumper and sweeter than the ones picked from bushes where the leaves are still green; they were also slightly less astringent, as well. We had never really noticed this before, but when we were picking chokecherries this past weekend in the mountains, there was a marked difference, even with berries picked only a few feet apart in the same "patch" but on different bushes.

PLEASE NOTE - they are very good either way, especially after being converted to syrup or jelly etc., so it is not a major consideration. Having said that - in my mind, it never hurts to get the best ones possible, and if that means waiting an extra week or so, then so be it.