Everyone knows this ornamental tree whose masses of white blooms decorate the countryside in early spring, followed in autumn by bright red berries which children string into beads.
As a flavouring, however, rowan- berries continue to be neglected. Perhaps because in this overly-civilized world where we can purchase everything packaged and ready-made we have forgotten to look about us and make the most of nature's bounty, of the fruits which are not found on the market but are plentiful in the wild.
The tender young leaves combined with eggs were a popular dish called 'tansy', eaten at Easter to celebrate the end of fasting. This custom has survived to this day in the form of Easter cakes and puddings flavoured with tansy leaves.
It was also believed to banish 'bad humours' caused by a lengthy diet of salt fish. The highly aromatic, rather unpleasant-tasting foliage was used to disguise the strong taste of game and mutton and make it more palatable.
The rowan is distributed throughout western and central Europe from the lowlands up to the tree-line.and in northern Europe, even north of the Arctic Circle. It is a small, deciduous, rapidly-growing tree reaching a maximum height of 20 m (65 ft); it is not very long-lived and its wood is of little value. Its one advantage is that it is completely hardy.
The fruits are eaten by birds, chiefly starlings and blackbirds, a fact made use of by fowlers who used to capture them on the tree; the Latin name of the species is derived from `avis capere', meaning to catch birds. The rowan is not harmed by the birds; on the contrary, it benefits because the birds disperse the seeds, which they cannot digest and thus pass out with their faeces, thereby spreading the species
As a flavouring, however, rowan- berries continue to be neglected. Perhaps because in this overly-civilized world where we can purchase everything packaged and ready-made we have forgotten to look about us and make the most of nature's bounty, of the fruits which are not found on the market but are plentiful in the wild.
The tender young leaves combined with eggs were a popular dish called 'tansy', eaten at Easter to celebrate the end of fasting. This custom has survived to this day in the form of Easter cakes and puddings flavoured with tansy leaves.
It was also believed to banish 'bad humours' caused by a lengthy diet of salt fish. The highly aromatic, rather unpleasant-tasting foliage was used to disguise the strong taste of game and mutton and make it more palatable.
The rowan is distributed throughout western and central Europe from the lowlands up to the tree-line.and in northern Europe, even north of the Arctic Circle. It is a small, deciduous, rapidly-growing tree reaching a maximum height of 20 m (65 ft); it is not very long-lived and its wood is of little value. Its one advantage is that it is completely hardy.
The fruits are eaten by birds, chiefly starlings and blackbirds, a fact made use of by fowlers who used to capture them on the tree; the Latin name of the species is derived from `avis capere', meaning to catch birds. The rowan is not harmed by the birds; on the contrary, it benefits because the birds disperse the seeds, which they cannot digest and thus pass out with their faeces, thereby spreading the species
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