This recipe is a collaboration between Svöl and Ben Foster, chef and founder of K-Bröd, a Swedish kitchen and web shop that makes artisan provisions using Nordic techniques.

Introduction

by Ben Foster, founder of K-Bröd

Fruit preservation seems to escape outside time. I remember as a teenager drinking some illegal moonshine that had strawberries in it. The fruits were really juicy, and hard, it was really strong liquor, like Everclear. I could have been a young man in an ancient time, or somewhere far off in the future.

Time starts to thicken as power becomes the main mode of human relationships.

Lots of scholars map the emergence of civilization alongside the invention of alcohol. Fruit preservation with alcohol is old. But what’s interesting is not its rustic origins, or the maintenance of the tradition in the hills of West Virginia, but rather its convergence with centers of power.

That is why we’re here, to talk about this gooseberry jam I made. At some point the kings of Europe (or rather their chefs) decided that fruit preserves were going to become a court dish. Traditional forms of preserving fruits, using grain alcohol or plain sugar (sugar was going to become less expensive, but not yet, we’re still imagining the early Christian era) would lack a certain divinity, and while sugar was expensive, the use of basic alcohols wouldn’t pair well with the fine cheeses and wines being produced by artisans at this time. So liquor-makers offered their talents.

A fine clear alcohol made in a distillery, carefully planned and executed for a perfect flavor would make an excellent ingredient for a fruit preserve to be eaten by a king. For the kings of Sweden, that clear alcohol was aquavit.

I am not a chef for a king. It is interesting how the tastes of the aristocracy trickled down to the bourgeois as capitalism took its course.

Gooseberry-Rosehip Jam

300ml Svöl Danish-Style Aquavit (buy online here)
100 grams dried rosehips
100 grams dried gooseberries
25 grams sugar

Instructions

Combine dried rosehips and 200ml of aquavit in a pot on the stove. Turn the burner on at a reasonably low heat and stir often.
Once the rosehip/aquavit combination is pretty well reduced (the rosehips should be pretty soft and spit seeds), kill the heat.
Strain the rosehip juice through a chinoise.
Combine the rosehip juice, 100ml of aquavit, and the dried gooseberries in a pot. Heat high and stir constantly. The gooseberries should swell up from the steam.
Once the compote has reduced down so the liquid is mostly cooked off stir in the sugar and kill the heat.
Purée in a blender, then jar it hot. It should seize up as it cools.
Once it is cooled, you will have delicious rosehip-gooseberry jam (yields 100g). Keep it refrigerated.

Check back soon! We will be adding more Svöl recipes from K-Bröd and updating these posts with how to videos and more.

Enjoy with with sour butter or pickled fish on a hard cracker with fresh dill.