Have you ever tasted crow berry jam? Crow berries (also known as heather berries), are the purple berries on Cross-leaved Heath  (Erica tetralix). These berries have always been popular with Scottish kids, but require some determination to pick. Their taste resembles wild blue berries, but they have more seeds and are less juicy. A good sign that they are ripe and abundant is when you find purple coloured bird poo!
During our last holiday on Foula, the moor outside our Burns – our rented crofthouse – was full of crow berries. Gonda and Hilde were easily persuaded to pick berries for breakfast pancakes. Given the abundance they decided to collect more to make some Foula jam, bulking up the crow berries with rhubarb from the croft garden. The Foula jam proved delicious, and with a weave cover made a nice farewell present for Justyna.
Recipe for crow berry jam
300g crow berries
700g rhubarb
1 lemon
A bit of water
1 kg sugar
Place the fruit in a pan with a bit of water and bring to a boil. Ensure the mixture doesn’t cook dry and the fruit softens and forms a purée. The add the sugar and cook until 104 degrees Celcius and poor in sterilised jars. Let cool, and enjoy your crow berry jam.
If you don’t have a thermometer – we didn’t on Foula – poor a teaspoon of jam on a saucer and let it cool. If the jam doesn’t run it has boiled long enough. My girls hold the saucer above each other’s heads to check !
