A real storehouse of vitamins - this is what they say about an old cranberry. Due to its healing properties, it is widely used in folk medicine. And for the aroma and astringent taste, the berry is used in a wide variety of culinary dishes, from cranberry compotes to sauce to meat.
Northern lemon
Cranberries initially grew only in the northern latitudes, although for a long time Europeans considered Russia to be its birthplace. However, back in the 12th century, Vikings imported the berry into Europe, which was appreciated for its healing properties and pleasant taste. Cranberries are a spherical or ellipsoidal red berry. Grows on evergreen shrubs.
Cranberries can actually be found in any country where marshy forest soil prevails, moss and tundra swamps are common. In Russia, it is found almost everywhere, only in the Republic of Karelia about 22 species of this berry grow. Until about the 19th century, berries were picked manually. And so the painstaking work was complicated by the fact that I had to wander through the swamps. But breeders have solved this problem by developing cranberry varieties that can be grown on plantations in Belarus, Canada, the United States and harvested in an automated way.
For a high percentage of vitamin C and quinic acid, which gives bitterness, cranberries were called northern lemon. In Russia, they harvest exclusively wild berries, in which there are an order of magnitude more vitamins than in the selection.
Useful properties of berries
Cranberries have antipyretic, analgesic and bactericidal and healing properties. Berry is used to treat cough, juice helps with gastritis, is used to prevent diseases of the genitourinary system, and lowers cholesterol. The proanthocyanidins contained in cranberries prevent caries and gum disease. Regular intake of berries in any form, for example, according to your favorite recipe for compote from frozen cranberries, stimulates the brain, prevents the appearance of cancer cells, improves blood circulation.
The effect of antibiotics is enhanced by the chemical composition of cranberries. Listing all the substances and trace elements of cranberries, one wonders how all this contains one small berry. Citric, quinic, benzoic, oleander, succinic acids, vitamins of group B, PP, K1, C, zinc, tin, potassium, phosphorus, iodine, silver - and this is not a complete list of all the components of miracle berries.
Contraindications
Along with the benefits of cranberries, there is, unfortunately, harm to health. Berries will have to be avoided by people with diseases of the duodenum. Also, because of the high degree of acidity, cranberries can aggravate complex gastritis. Elemental intolerance to components can do much harm. Although the berry prevents tooth decay and gum bleeding, elevated levels of citric acid can damage tooth enamel and cause tooth sensitivity.
Harvesting methods. Cranberry freeze
Enjoy healthy and tasty berries all year round? There is nothing easier. Housewives and industries on a large scale are actively using the freezing method, which retains all its properties in its original form, thanks to benzoic acid. There are various ways to freeze cranberries. The most common of them is packaging for packages in the form of pancakes. To begin with, choose a berry, thoroughly rinse it with warm running water and dry it to get rid of excess water during freezing. Then they fill the berries with 100-200 grams in separate packets and roll them in an even layer, trying to blow the air out of the bag as much as possible. Then stack the packages in the freezer on top of each other. Some housewives pre-sprinkle the berries with sugar. When re-defrosting, the berry should be cooked or eaten for several hours, avoiding long-term storage.
In addition to freezing, cranberries are also dried, wiped with sugar and canned for the winter.
Frozen Cranberry Compote
If in summer fresh fruits and berries are available for people to maintain vitamin balance, then in the cold season it is much more difficult to do.
But the problem can be solved by taking note of the compote of frozen cranberries.
Ingredients:
- Berries - 300 grams.
- Water - 1.5 liters.
- Sugar - 150 grams.
Pour berry into a saucepan, pour water and add sugar, and cook frozen cranberries. As soon as the boil boils, reduce the gas and leave for another 3 minutes. After that, remove from heat and let it brew. If desired, you can strain.
Spicy compote of frozen cranberries and apples
The fruit and berry tandem is perfect in any dish, and especially in the popular recipe for frozen cranberry compote with apple.
For cooking you will need:
- Apples - 200 grams.
- Frozen Cranberries - 150 grams.
- Water - 1.5 liters.
- Sugar - 4 tablespoons.
First you need to pour water into the pan, pour sugar and put on fire. Until the water reaches a boil, peel the apples from the peel and core, chop finely. Add apples and cranberries to the boiling water, then reduce the heat and cook with the lid closed for about 20 minutes. You can drink the drink hot, but you can pre-cool.
Cranberry compote with cherries and zest
Another recipe for compote from frozen cranberries, which will appeal to any gourmet. For a drink you will need:
- cranberries - 200 grams;
- cherry - 200 grams;
- half a lemon;
- tangerine zest;
- water - 3 liters;
- vanillin;
- sugar to taste.
The first thing is to pour water into the pan, pour sugar and boil on the fire. While preparing the water, it is necessary to peel the cherry. If the berry is frozen and seedless, then simply mix immediately with cranberries. Then very finely chop the peeled lemon into cubes. Once the water has boiled, put the berries and lemon in a saucepan and let cook for about 15 minutes over low heat. Add the tangerine zest and vanillin a few minutes before cooking.
What will make compote even tastier and healthier
When cooking stewed fruit, the hostesses pound cranberries, thinking that in this way she will give away more vitamins, and they are mistaken. Boiling in water, the berry gives away all the useful elements, and the crushed berries only spoil the consistency, and the compote will have to be filtered. Unfortunately, all the good things quickly end, as well as the useful properties in the compote, so you should abandon the long-term storage of the drink, reducing it to two days in the refrigerator.
The addition of berries, fruits and spices will help pamper the taste buds. Apples, raisins, dried apricots, dogrose, sea buckthorn, cloves and mint are perfectly combined with cranberries. When experimenting in the kitchen, do not forget that cranberries are capable of both good and bad health.