Why hawthorn earns its place in the kitchen

By early October the hedges are heavy with haws and most of them go untouched. That is a shame. The common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, gives you something no cultivated fruit quite matches: a sharp, faintly apple-like tang that cuts through rich food beautifully. The flesh is dry and mealy, which makes it poor in a pie, but cook it down and it becomes a superb spiced ketchup or a fruity leather tasting somewhere between apple and rosehip. Best of all, if you can find a hedge in Britain, you can find hawthorn.

Finding and picking haws

Hawthorn is the shrub behind the old name "May tree" and the backbone of most British hedgerows. Look for:

• Berries: deep crimson, about the size of a small pea, hanging in loose clusters. Each holds a single hard stone.
• Leaves: small, deeply lobed and glossy, often still on the bush beside the fruit.
• Thorns: woody spines 1–2cm long along the twigs. Wear gloves and long sleeves, and wash any scratch when you get home.

Haws ripen from late September and improve after a cold snap or two, when the flesh softens and sweetens. Pick through November, choosing berries that give slightly under the thumb and avoiding shrivelled or brown ones. Two plants are worth knowing: the woodland hawthorn, Crataegus laevigata, has shallower leaf lobes and two or three stones per berry, and is equally good. Black bryony, a twining climber with shiny red berries in long strings and heart-shaped leaves, is poisonous — if the plant is climbing rather than standing as a thorny bush, walk on.

Pick away from busy roads, sprayed field margins and well-used dog paths, and always ask the landowner first. Take from the top half of the bush and leave plenty behind, because redwings, fieldfares and waxwings rely on haws through the winter.

Preparing the berries

Never blend raw haws. The stones are hard enough to blunt a blade, and the seeds inside are best not eaten in quantity, so the whole aim of preparation is to cook the fruit and then strain every stone out.

As a rough guide, 1kg of haws on the stem gives about 700–800g of stripped fruit and roughly 500ml of sieved pulp. Strip them by holding a cluster in one hand and pulling the berries off with the other, or run the cluster along the tines of a fork. Freeze anything you cannot use the same day; thawed haws cook down quickly.

Hawthorn ketchup

This is the recipe to make first. Makes about 500ml.

• 700g stripped haws
• 300ml cider vinegar and 200ml water
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 1 onion, chopped, and 20g fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, 4 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp salt

Simmer the haws, onion, ginger, peppercorns, cloves and bay with the vinegar and water for 25–30 minutes, until the berries collapse and the liquid has reduced by about half. Push everything through a fine nylon sieve or a mouli, working hard to get the pulp through and leaving skins and stones behind. Return the pulp to a clean pan with the sugar and salt and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust with a little more sugar or vinegar, then pour into sterilised bottles or jars. It keeps six months unopened and a month in the fridge once opened. Serve with sausages, sharp cheddar, venison or cold roast pork.

Hawthorn and apple leather

Hawthorn is low in pectin and quite dry, so apple is a natural partner, adding body and sweetness without masking the haws.

• 500g stripped haws
• 500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 100ml water
• 100–200g sugar or honey, to taste

Stew the haws and apples with the water until completely soft, about 20 minutes. Sieve to remove skins, cores and stones, then stir in the sugar while the pulp is still hot. Spread 3–5mm thick on a silicone mat or baking parchment in a shallow tray. Dry at 55–60°C for 5–7 hours — in an oven on its lowest setting with the door propped open with a wooden spoon, or in a dehydrator. It is ready when it peels cleanly from the mat and feels tacky rather than sticky. Roll in parchment, cut into strips and store in an airtight jar for up to six months.

Variations, and a note on quantities

Once you have the basic method, play with it. Star anise, a dried chilli or a sprig of rosemary all suit the ketchup, and a grated raw beetroot added with the sugar deepens the colour. For the leather, cinnamon, vanilla or a spoonful of blackberry pulp works well.

Hawthorn has a long tradition of use for the heart and circulation. Worth knowing, but it also means large regular doses can interact with heart and blood-pressure medicines. Keep to condiment and snacking amounts, and if you are on cardiac medication, have a word with a pharmacist before making it a daily habit.