Sloe

What it is

A sloe measures about 1 cm (0.4 in) across, with a pale, dusty-looking bloom on its purple skin. Inside, the flesh stays green around one central stone. The small, hard fruit is tart and astringent: that last word means the dry, puckering feeling it leaves in your mouth. It goes into preserves and drinks rather than the fruit bowl.

Where it comes from

Blackthorn comes from Europe and western Asia. It also grows in New Zealand and eastern North America. In Britain it belongs to the hedgerow landscape, growing in scrub and mixed woodland as well as in planted hedges and small woods.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Britain, sloes steep in gin with sugar to make sloe gin. In Navarra, northern Spain, they go into pacharán, a liqueur made with anise-flavoured spirit. There the anise spirit’s sweetness balances the fruit’s mouth-drying bite, and the sloes slowly flavour the drink over months.

They also bring tartness to the breakfast table. Fruits of the Forage makes a marmalade with wild sloes from Cheshire or North Wales and bitter Seville oranges. The orange peel and dark fruit share the same jar.

How it's grown

Blackthorn grows as a shrub or small tree, up to 4 m (13 ft) tall. Its twigs are usually very thorny, and it can form dense thickets. In Britain it is planted in hedgerows and small woods, as well as growing wild among other trees.

When and where you'll find it

In the UK, sloes are usually picked from late September through December. Frost softens their skins and helps release the juice; freezing the picked fruit does the same job before it goes into gin. Fresh sloes are a hedgerow harvest; beyond the hedge, the fruit turns up in jars such as Fruits of the Forage’s Seville orange and sloe marmalade.