I got my first fountain pen atthe age of 13. I didn't need my new pen, but it feltterribly grown up to own one, and it made my dreadful handwriting lookslightly more sophisticated. However, during dull moments in class, my hapless teenage mind couldn't come up with anything more imaginative than pressing on the ink cartridge and spilling drops all over my notebook, to be turned into my own private Rorschachs.
I was reminded of this inky-fingered passage-of-writing the other day while munching my way through a punnet of sweet blackberries. It got me to wondering what the equivalent tradition is for keypad-raised children: their first association with blackberries is as likely to be with the hand-held device as with the hand-picked berry. For those who do pine for a bit of black ink on their fingers, however, the timeless act of picking blackberries will both help the nostalgic and provide the means for many a delight in the kitchen.
Both sweet and tart, blackberries – as well as the blueberries and blackcurrants in today's recipes – have some firm friends. Sugar will often be there, to draw out the natural sweetness and tame the fruit's tang, but they also adore some flavours from the other end ofthe sweet-tart spectrum. The obvious pairing is with lemon juice and zest, though a few drops of angostura bitters, for example, also work well in a simple pudding of crushed berries spooned on top of thick vanilla cream. They are also delicious stewed with sugar, mixed with a little rose water and stem ginger, and served in a glass bowl with layers of custard and sponge that has been left to soak in the blackberries' stewing juices. Perhapsmost of all, I find it hard to cook dark berries without reaching for star anise, with its liquorice-like pungency andwarmth, and irrespective of whether thedish is sweet or savoury.
Dried, fresh, pureed or mashed, injams, jellies or compotes, to be served sweet or to accompany their savoury hedgerow friends the partridge or duck: whatever your plans, get as much black ink on your fingers as you can, while you can.
Blueberry galette
The joy of making a tart without a tart tin is that, though it looks a bit rough round the edges, you can call it deliberately "rustic". This simple pudding is a perfect way to round off a late-summer meal, especially if served with a drizzle of cold cream or some vanilla ice-cream. Ground star anise is not widely available, but you can blitz whole star anise in a spice (or coffee) grinder, or pound it in a pestle and mortar before passing though a sieve. Serves four.
140g plain flour, plus extra to dust
⅛ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp icing sugar
Salt
85g unsalted butter, fridge-cold and cut into 2cm cubes
65g cream cheese
½ tbsp cider vinegar
150g blueberries
150g blackcurrants
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1½ tbsp cornflour
55g demerara sugar
1 piece star anise, finely ground (or 1tsp ground star anise)
1 egg, lightly beaten
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, icing sugar and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Add the butter and, with the tips of your fingers, rub into the mix until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cream cheese and vinegar, and mix well until soft and combined, then shape into a ball, wrap in cling-film and set the pastry aside in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Mix the blueberries, blackcurrants, zest, cornflour, 50g of the demerara sugar and the ground star anise in a small bowl – crush a few of the berries, to help the mix combine –and set aside.
Roll out the pastry 0.5cm thick on a lightly floured surface, then cut out a 28cm-wide circle and roll this around your floured rolling pin – this will make it easier to move. Unroll on a large, parchment-lined baking sheet, pour the fruit into the centre of the circle and spread it out so that it leaves a 5cm rim clear around the edge. Fold in the edges of the pastry, overlapping as you go, until all the pastry is drawn in and the fruit is sealed (you should have about 12 folds). Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle on the remaining teaspoonful of sugar.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and golden-brown. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside for 30 minutes before serving warm-ish, orallow it to cool down toroom temperature, if you prefer.
Duck breast with blackberries, ginger and star anise
This is delicious served with a potato and sweet potato mash. The amount of sugar the sauce needs depends on the sweetness of the blackberries, so you may not need the full amount listed here. Serves six.
1½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns
¾ tsp dried chilli flakes
5 bay leaves
2½ tbsp muscovado sugar
2 small sticks cinnamon
Coarse sea salt
6 duck breasts, skin scored 8times on the diagonal, 3mm deep
5 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
3cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
150ml red wine
200ml port
150ml chicken stock
100ml apple juice
4 whole star anise
30g unsalted butter
200g fresh (or frozen) blackberries
Put the peppercorns in a spice grinder with the chilli flakes, three bay leaves, a tablespoonful of the sugar, one cinnamon stick and a tablespoonful of sea salt (half a tablespoon if using fine salt). Blitz toa rough powder and transfer to a large bowl (if you don't have a spice grinder, start things off in a small food processor bowl and finish by hand using a good, large knife). Add the duck breasts, use your hands to mix and rub in, and set aside to marinate for two hours.
Put a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the duck breasts skin side down. Cook for four to five minutes, until the skin is dark brown. Flip over the breasts, cook for another minute, then lift out of the pan. Pour the duck fat into a small bowl and reserve; wipe the pan clean.
Put two tablespoons of the duck fat back into the pan (avoid spooning in any burnt spices) and put on a medium heat. Add the shallots and ginger, and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring a few times, until the shallots are soft and starting to colour. Increase the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine, port, stock and 150ml of water. Bring to a boil and cook rapidly for six or seven minutes, until reduced by half. Remove from the heat, pour into a tall jug and blitz smooth with a stick blender.
Return the sauce to the pan and put on a medium-high heat. Add the apple juice, star anise, the remaining bay leaves and cinnamon, half the remaining sugar and a teaspoonful of salt. Cook for five to six minutes, until the sauce thickens, then stir in the butter and blackberries and cook for two minutes more. Taste to see if you want to add the remaining sugar, then put the breasts skin side up in the pan and cook for five to six minutes for medium-rare, seven to nine minutes for well done. Lift the duck breasts out of the sauce and cut on the diagonal into 0.5cm-thick slices. Serve at once with the sauce spooned on top or alongside.
Blackcurrant sorbet
Pile up the toppings here as you like – a drizzle of ouzo and some finely grated orange zest, say – but keeping things simple is more than delightful enough. Serves four
160g caster sugar
80g liquid glucose
550g fresh or frozen blackcurrants, stems removed
5 whole star anise
4 tbsp Greek yoghurt
2 tsp lavender honey (or another floral variety)
Put the sugar, glucose, blackcurrants and star anise in a saucepan. Pour in 100ml of water and put on a medium-high heat. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it starts to come to a boil. Remove from the heat, set aside to cool and leave to infuse for four hours.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing the berries to extract as much of their juice as possible. Pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and churn for 30-35 minutes until almost frozen. Spoon the sorbet into a sealed container and freeze for at least an hour. Remove five minutes before serving with a spoonful of yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.
