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So, what can you do with redcurrants?

Paula McIntyre

Grilled mackerel with black pepper labneh and pickled red currants

Burnt white chocolate cremeux with red currant and meadow sweet glazed strawberries

Grilled mackerel with black pepper labneh and pickled red currants

Burnt white chocolate cremeux with red currant and meadow sweet glazed strawberries

Grilled mackerel with black pepper labneh and pickled red currants

July 31 2021 08:00 AM

A thoughtful neighbour texted me last week to ask if I would like some redcurrants. If there was an Olympic sport called house to house running I suspect I’d have been in with a shout at a medal. I was at her door in two seconds flat to collect the ruby red jewel like fruit. They have a sharp, astringent taste and a lip puckering sourness. Many years ago, I worked in a restaurant, where one Christmas they spent a small fortune ordering these very attractive berries to use as a garnish, alongside the obligatory mint leaf, on the desserts. They looked suitably festive but every plate came back with the dessert eaten and the fruit and mint left perfectly intact. It was a seminal lesson in the importance of seasonal eating and purchasing.

Serendipitously meadow sweet is prolific at the moment and its toothsome vanilla aroma is the perfect foil for the pungent currants. This- plant has pale yellow flowers and they’re in abundance along many roads and lanes at this particular point in the summer. Be warned though as its not dissimilar in looks to toxic cow parsley. Making jelly is one of those old-fashioned arts that’s on the wane but it’s one I embrace with gusto. Taking currants, smashing them with meadow sweet, boiling, straining and cooking with sugar seems like a lot of work but the rewards far outweigh the labour time.

The jelly can be used classically with roast lamb but in the recipe here I’ve used it to glaze strawberries to accompany a burnt white chocolate cremeux.

Pickled currants are used in Nordic cuisine to add acidity in place of the usual citrus flavours. On a visit to Copenhagen a couple of years ago pickled white, red and blackcurrants were used to cut through oily fish or anywhere you’d use lemon. Since then, I’ve been pickling currants and they’re a northern hemisphere method of adding tartness to dishes. Mackerel is in season and a few pickled redcurrants add a beautiful zing to slice through the richness of the fish. Labneh is a thick strained yoghurt that can be easily prepared.

The fish and currants are served with a dollop of this creamy accompaniment that has been doused with black pepper. Rich fish, tart currants and smooth spicy yoghurt — local seasonality at its best.

Burnt white chocolate cremeux with redcurrant and meadow sweet glazed strawberries

Serves 4, cook time – 1 hour, prep time – 20 minutes

Burnt white chocolate cremeux

325g chopped white chocolate

3 egg yolks

70g liquid glucose

150ml milk

350ml double cream

5 gelatine leaves

Set oven to 140C.

Take 150g of the white chocolate and spread on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place in oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until the chocolate is a rich amber colour. Cool.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water.

Warm the milk and cream in a saucepan.

Whisk the egg yolks and glucose together and pour over half the hot cream mixture. Whisk and return to the pan. Gently cook the mixture over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon.

Add the burnt white chocolate and remaining white chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Squeeze the water from the gelatine and add to the mixture. Stir until melted and pour into a bowl or moulds. Cool and then chill.

Redcurrant and meadowsweet jelly

2kg redcurrants, washed and leaves removed

4 sprigs meadowsweet rinsed under cold water

250ml water

1.5kg sugar

150ml liquid pectin

Place the redcurrants in a large saucepan and mash with a potato masher to smash the currants. Add the meadow sweet and water. Bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Line a sieve over a bowl with muslin or a couple of jeye cloths. Spoon the mixture into the sieve and allow to drip through. Remove some of the mashed berries from the sieve when they’ve release their juice to allow more in. You should have 1.25 litres of liquid. Place in a clean saucepan with the sugar and pectin. Stir occasionally and allow to come up to the boil. Boil for a minute or if you have a probe it should read 104oc. Add a teaspoon of butter and mix in. The foam on top can be removed and spoon the jelly into sterilised jam jars. Seal and cool to allow to set.

1 punnet strawberries

2 tbsp red currant and meadow sweet jelly

Hull the strawberries and place on parchment paper. Heat the jelly until melted and thick and spoon over the berries. Cool to set.

Spoon the cremeux onto plates or remove from mould. Dot around the strawberries and garnish with red currants if you have any.

Grilled mackerel with black pepper labneh and pickled red currants

Serves 4 as a starter, prep time – 30 minutes, cook time – 5 minutes

8 fillets mackerel

Oil for brushing

Salt for seasoning

Brush the fillets with oil and season the skin with salt. Heat a non-stick pan until smoking and place fish skin side down into pan. Cook until skin is crisp and golden then flip and cook for 30 seconds.

Black pepper labneh

350ml Greek style yoghurt

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Line a sieve with muslin or blue jeye cloth and place over a bowl. Add the yoghurt and allow to strain for an hour. Don’t discard the whey – use it for scones or bread.

Add the pepper to the strained yoghurt and season with the salt.

Pickled red currants

500g red currants

150ml cider vinegar

75g sugar

100ml water

1 clove

1 cinnamon stick

Wash and pack the red currants into a sterilized Kilner jar. Simmer the cider vinegar, sugar, water, clove and cinnamon until sugar has dissolved. Cool completely and pour over the currants. Seal.

To assemble, arrange some leaves on four plates. Dress with a little oil. Place mackerel on top. Spoon some labneh on the side and make an indent in the middle. Spoon over a tablespoon of pickled red currants and serve.