Raspberry Shoots in the Raw, too!
You will remember that i said i wouldn't want to prepare raspberry shoots for a football team because they were a little fiddly. Well, i ate them words today! And some shoots!
At the Rogaland Landbrukspark -- which is the agricultural research campus where i work, we had a 'felleslunsj' today. These happen usually one Friday a month and we all get together, eat our lunsj, supplemented with a supplied treat, and hear about someone's work. Well, remember Åge Jorgensen, my colleague with the raspberry shoots? (bringebær skudd på norsk) He liked them so much he talked me into volunteering to prep some for the felleslunsj!
So we went out to his vekshuset (greenhouse) and grabbed a bunch!
At the Rogaland Landbrukspark -- which is the agricultural research campus where i work, we had a 'felleslunsj' today. These happen usually one Friday a month and we all get together, eat our lunsj, supplemented with a supplied treat, and hear about someone's work. Well, remember Åge Jorgensen, my colleague with the raspberry shoots? (bringebær skudd på norsk) He liked them so much he talked me into volunteering to prep some for the felleslunsj!
So we went out to his vekshuset (greenhouse) and grabbed a bunch!
Scary sized plants, eh?
I decided that i wasn't cooking them this time, so we only used the very tops - perhaps 20 cms or so. We cut them, stripped the leaves and took them to the kitchen to peel them.
I decided that i wasn't cooking them this time, so we only used the very tops - perhaps 20 cms or so. We cut them, stripped the leaves and took them to the kitchen to peel them.
The last picture above shows what we wound up with. We didn't use all the length of all the stalks and we still had enough for 20+ people.
We took the stalks to the kitchen and stripped the fibrous sheath off the outside of them, cut them to length, and put them in a bowl of water with half a lemon's juice in it. I forgot to mention in the last post that they can oxidize a bit, turning dark, kind of like artichoke hearts. So storing them in lemon water lets you take your time before serving them.
We took the stalks to the kitchen and stripped the fibrous sheath off the outside of them, cut them to length, and put them in a bowl of water with half a lemon's juice in it. I forgot to mention in the last post that they can oxidize a bit, turning dark, kind of like artichoke hearts. So storing them in lemon water lets you take your time before serving them.
When all done (took both of us about 40 minutes) i dried them on some paper towel and arranged them on a platter. I sprinkled with lemon zest, just for garnish, really, and squeezed a bit of lemon juice over them, plus a light dusting of salt. And, wahey! We were Ready to Go!
Looks nice eh? I raced it down to the felleslunsj room and presented it.
At first people were a bit skeptical -- who wouldn't be? But after i got up and explained the background, lots had a try and many really liked them. And nobody had ever heard of eating them before! Nae bad for a group of farmers agricultural researchers!
So there you go. There isn't really a recipe. Just make sure you have the really tender part of the shoots, peel them carefully so there are no stringy bits left on. Store them in lemon water to make sure they don't oxidize. And then serve them! Nordic Gastronomy at its best! (Just think what you would pay for these at Noma!)
The really are like celery but better!
enjoy!
The really are like celery but better!
enjoy!
