Wet lingonberry: both medicine and treat

Cranberry is a traditional berry for Russia, growing in most of its territory( middle belt, tundra).How did it happen that the recipe for wilted cowberry became something akin to the "ancient exotics" for modern supporters of healthy food?

People living in cities have limited access to natural products - that's what can be found only in a supermarket in the department of frozen fruit and berries. It is known that cultivated cranberries have a higher yield compared to wild-growing - up to 20-30 times! At the same time, it practically does not concede on the useful qualities of its predecessor( the content of vitamin C decreases slightly), so it is not a problem to buy a package of frozen berries and prepare a tasty mors.

However, strict raw foods still consider such a product a "delicacy" - because of the freezing of water contained in the berry, cellular membranes are destroyed, so the product is eventually "not the same."Of course, if there is a possibility, it is better to go into the forest in August-September and independently collect berries for cooking "cowberry water" or other useful dishes and drinks. And use it as soon as possible!

Attention: Cowberry has a significant drawback: it "collects" and accumulates radioactive substances and other toxins, so you need reliable information about the place of growth of this shrub and - it is important!- picking berries should be conducted away from busy roads and highways, industrial facilities.

When buying raw materials "from hand" will not prevent you from checking it with a dosimeter to protect yourself and your family from unnecessary health problems.

. The ancient secrets of berries: the preservation of valuable qualities.

. Moisture is the usual method of harvesting berries for future use, used in Russia for a long time. In this way, you can save the spring cranberries, cranberries, cloudberries, as well as apples "Antonovka."For harvesting only the best fruits and berries are selected - ripe, intact.

Of course, the modern approach to the treatment is significantly different from the original. Used real wooden barrels and kegs or pottery, for cooking and preservation, special conditions were necessary - a dark cool cellar is the best place for this. And the technology itself is not the same - some ingredients are simply not familiar to us. So, in V. Pokhlebkin's culinary dictionary, the recipe for the soaked apples is indicated, for which the filling is not sugar syrup, but licorice water( licorice root broth) with spices - cloves and cinnamon.

Sweet cowberry is one of such traditional Russian dishes, used both as a source of "cowberry water" and as a seasoning and an additive to desserts and even meat dishes.

There are several ways to prepare wet bilberry, but in order to preserve its useful properties,without the addition of sugar. What are the qualities of a berry prepared in this way? Cowberry contains up to 86% water, up to 10-12% easily digestible monosaccharides, organic acids, pectin, antioxidants, flavonoids, arbutin, tannins, vitamins A, B1, B2, B9, C, PP and E, fatty acids, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and other minerals. Preservation of ripe berries during the treatment is provided by benzoic acid( 0.2%), which has preservative properties.

Experimental pharmacological studies have established that waxed cowberry and "cowberry water" can be used as restorative, antipyretic, astringent, uroantiseptic and light laxatives.

The "lingonberry water" is mentioned as a laxative remedy by the novel's hero A.S.Pushkin Eugene Onegin, referring to Lensky: "I'm afraid: cranberry water has not done harm to me. .."

Contraindications and cautions

Cowberry preparations, in particular its "wet" variant, are contraindicated in:

• peptic ulcer of stomach and intestines, gastritis with high acidity;
• hemorrhoids;
• tumors of the prostate;
• hypotension;
  
• cholecystitis;
• kidney stones.

Berry placer recipes

Recipe for soaked cowberry "Simple"

Thanks to its simplicity, this recipe will suit even those who do not have their own cellar. Store dishes with a waxy berries can, for example, on a balcony, first placing it, for example, in a box or box that does not let light. So, to prepare a "classic" waxed bilberry, you need a ripe berry berry( you can not wash) and clean water( preferably spring water) in a 1: 3 ratio. You can start to prepare a small amount, for example, a three-liter jar. The technology is as follows: fill the jar with 1/3 berries, top up with water and cover with a lid or bandage with parchment paper. Send for 7 days in the "link" to the balcony in the prepared place.

Gradually the berry gives useful substances and their taste in water, and just in a week you can evaluate the result and "take the first test."It should be poured a little( about a glass) of the resulting drink and immediately recover the amount of water. Such a "water cycle in cranberries" is possible until the spring, so it is good to use large dishes( optimally - a barrel of 25 liters).If there are only banks, it is necessary to cast a little from all, then on your table almost every day there will be delicious "cowberry water".Cowberry in this case to the spring "otoschaet", tk.all the useful substances went into the drink. This berry is no longer eaten.

Cowberry water can be harvested directly in bottles, respecting the proportion 1: 3

Tip: This recipe does not recommend the addition of sugar in the dishes where the cowberry is. If the ready-made drink does not seem delicious enough, you can individually sweeten it, preferably honey.

Recipe for the soaked cowberry "Modern"

It is required: washed ripe berries of cranberries, sugar( in a ratio of 2: 1 or 5: 2), cold filtered or spring water, aromatic spices to taste( cloves, cinnamon, sweet pepper).

Preparation: Put the berries in enameled ware, suitable for storage( bucket, pan with a lid) so as to fill it in half. From above put oppression and pour an aqueous solution of sugar with spices up to the top. Then the dishes are closed and left for 30 days stored in the cellar. Such a wet cowberry can be used as a jam or diluted with boiled water to make a soft drink.

Tip: instead of a sugar solution, you can take a solution of natural honey( 0,6 kg for 3-4 liters of cold boiled water)

A fragrant and tasty drink from waxed cranberries is a vitamin supplement to the daily diet.

"Traditional"

Recipe for soaked lingonberry It is required: ripeberries of cranberries;for pouring: boiled water, sugar, salt, spices( one gram of water will need 100 g of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt).



Preparation: Weld and cool the fill. Wash the washed cowberry in a bowl for pouring( up to the top), pour the prepared cold brine. For flavor, you can add spices, apples cut into quarters. Put oppression, cover with lids with holes or cloth and leave in a dark place for 20 days. After opening, you can leave it in the refrigerator. Such a savory cowberry is a classic way to prepare vitamin berries for the winter.

Express recipe for cranberries for sauces

It is required: lingonberry( 1 kg), water( 900 ml), sugar( 1 tablespoon), salt( 0.5 tsp), cloves, cinnamon.

Preparation: Boil the syrup from water, sugar and spices, cool it completely. Wash the washed berries in glass jars, pour the syrup and leave for 3-4 days at a temperature of 10-15 ° C, then put in the refrigerator.

Tangible waxed cowberry - exquisite sauce for meat dishes, game, grilled

A bright useful berry is sometimes used as a "companion" in preparations and salads, and here is a classic example - apples, soaked with cranberries: