Haw flakes/leather

Arch

Arch

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Eccles, Salford
We've been foraging, and got lots of Haws, which I intended to make jelly with, in a preserving way, boiling the juice with sugar. Researching online, I came across a Ray Mears* video of a no-cook haw jelly:


It seems haws have so much pectin, a mush of them sets by itself, and then can be sliced thinly and dried (or spread into a shallow tray and dried that way) - basically hawthorn leather?

We think this might be the same stuff as Haw Flakes, a Chinese sweet NT remembers having as a kid. We'd googled but couldn't find any recipe or method for making it, and the ingredients on the packets just say "Hawthorn", with typical Chinese enigmatic style.

Anyone know if hawthorn leather and flakes are the same? I know SatNav is a fruit leather expert - ever done hawthorn?

I'll still make some of the cooked jelly, it seems from reading online that you need a lot of fruit for a little jelly that way, as it's not hugely juicy. It is a bumper year for haws, and the reserve I work at has loads of trees, so I can easily collect plenty for experimentation.

*For those over the pond, in case Ray hasn't made it to your screens, he's a wild survival expert - very gentle and in tune with nature, not a gung ho adventurer. He does a lot of programmes about using traditional and ancient methods for things like building shelter or boats, or finding food, and has a big following in the UK. Quite a lot of it among ladies of a certain age I think, who can't decide if they want him to look after them, or if they want to mother him!:wink:
 
nope, not tried hawthorn fruit leather - we just eat them straight from the bush and spit the pips out (something we picked up from cycling through eastern europe).

I could easily imagine hawthorn leather and hawthorn flakes being the same thing.

A wiki article has a touch of information on haw flakes indicating that the chinese version probably does not list all of the ingredients with them being seized for containing "unapproved artifical colouring" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haw_flakes

Also here has some more information http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-haw-flakes.htm#didyouknowout
 
Thanks for the information SatNav, your Google Fu is strong!:thumbsup:

I have tried Arch's Haw leathers and it is 'interesting'.

Granted that the lack of 'unapproved colouring' and no added sugar makes then a little different but the taste is there, sort of.
The initial taste is of damp cardboard followed by the distinctive, and subtle, sweet taste of Haws. Maybe with added sugar they would be more palatable but I think I can eat them. On the plus side, I wouldn't eat them as quickly as I would shop bought Haw Flakes.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure I got it right this time - I've never tried dehydrating before, so it was all an experiment.

I remember when I had haw flakes, I wasn't sure if I liked them or not, and my efforts are pretty much the same!
 
I have taken to them! :thumbsup:
The trick is not to just test little bits but to take a good sized mound and chew. The burst of sweetness and taste very quickly overcomes the damp cardboardiness texture to form a delightful*mouthful of 'stuff'.



*OK, exaggerating a little, but it is very palatable like that.:hungry:
 
sounds similar to the general fruit leathers I make in the dehydrator. most people think what? and then get the flavour and really like them.
might go hunting for some haw during the week when my ankle injury has settled down a touch - should not have to go too far!
 
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