Food Alphabet
Gooseberry juice
The Germans call gooseberries "prickly berries", the Italians – "bristly grapes", and the French – "fat".
The closest relative of the gooseberry is the currant. However, its taste is very different from the latter.
You can use gooseberry berries of various degrees of maturity for food. So, from unripe berries, compotes are cooked, half – ripe ones are used to make jam, and completely ripe ones are simply eaten, sometimes mixed with honey or sugar.
The juice from gooseberries is squeezed out poorly, because the berries contain a lot of pectin. To begin with, the gooseberries should be washed, dried and crushed with a wooden pestle or pusher. Before pressing, pour a small amount of water over the gooseberries and warm them up for half an hour at 60°C.
The finished juice should be immediately brought to a boil and poured into washed and scalded jars. Close the top of the cans with boiled lids, then sterilize the cans at 85°C (low boiling). It is important to note that the time of sterilization depends on the volume of the container:
3-liter cans are sterilized for 30 minutes, 1-liter cans for 20 minutes, and 0.5-liter cans for 15 minutes.
As a rule, gooseberry juice is very acidic, so before using it, it is recommended to dilute it with boiled water and sweeten it. In addition, you can mix it with the juice of fresh apples, chokeberry or carrot.
The resulting canned gooseberry juice is best stored in a dark, cold place.
