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Gooseberry wine

Erken's gooseberry wine from 1914: 20 kg green gooseberries, 15 kg sugar, 100 g tartaric acid, raisins as yeast, made up to 50 liters of liquid, fermented in a 45-liter cask, clarified with gelatin in January and bottled in spring.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 622 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

From the chapter on winemaking and liqueurs in "Stor kokebok" (1914). Homemade fruit wine in a 45-liter cask was common in well-off Norwegian households, and Erken gives precise instructions for fermentation, racking, and clarifying with gelatin.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Crush the berries

    Clean the berries and put them together with the raisins in a large vat. Crush them and pour over 18 liters of boiled, lukewarm water. Stir often and vigorously until the water is cold.

  2. 2

    Press the juice

    Press the crushed berries through a coarse sieve, adding 4—5 liters of boiled, cold water along the way.

  3. 3

    Mix in sugar and acid

    Dissolve the sugar and tartaric acid in the juice and water, and top up with enough water to have 50 liters of liquid in all.

  4. 4

    Initial fermentation

    Cover the vat with a cloth and let it stand quietly a couple of days in a room at 15—16 °C (60 °F).

  5. 5

    Fill the cask

    Pour into a 45-liter cask. The 4—5 liters left over are used for topping up during fermentation.

  6. 6

    Seal the cask

    As soon as the hissing from the fermenting wine stops, close the cask with a tight bung. A small hole bored close to the bung hole is closed with a cork that is removed for a moment every second or third day to let out air. After 10—12 days the cork is set fast.

  7. 7

    Aging

    Lay the cask in a cold cellar and let the wine rest until the first half of January.

  8. 8

    Racking and clarifying

    Rack the wine, rinse the cask well in boiled, cold water, and return the wine as soon as possible. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 liter of the wine, pour it into the cask, and top up well.

  9. 9

    Bottling

    Bottle the wine over the course of spring, when the gooseberry bushes are in bloom again.

Changes from the original

Réaumur degrees are converted to Celsius (12—13 °R ≈ 15—16 °C (60 °F)). Measures are kept in kilos and liters, "loaf sugar" is given as sugar (refined), and the steps are rewritten in modern Norwegian. Fermentation can today be done with wine yeast instead of raisins.

Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
1914 (proofread, p. 622) → Modernised~79% of the text changedremovedadded
20 kg. ikke fuldt modne, grønne kg stikkelsbær (ikke fullt modne, grønne). 15 kg. topsukker kg sukker (raffinade/topsukker). 100 gr. vinstensyre g vinsyre (vinstensyre). 30 gr. g gelatin (til klaring). 1 kg. kg rosiner eller rengjær. De rensede bær (eller vingjær). 50 l vann (kokt, i alt til 50 liter væske). Rens bærene og rosiner haves legg dem sammen med rosinene i et stort kar, knuses kar. Knus dem og paaheldes hell over 18 l. liter kokt, lunkent vand, røres vann. Rør ofte sterkt om, indtil vandet og kraftig om til vannet er koldt. De kaldt.. Press de knuste bær presses gjennem bærene gjennom en grov sigt, herunder tilsættes sil, og tilsett underveis 4—5 l. liter kokt, koldt vand. Sukkeret kaldt vann.. Løs sukkeret og vinstensyren opløses vinsyren i saften og vandet, vannet, og man tilsætter saa meget vand, fyll på så mye vann at man alt du i alt har 50 l. flytende. Karret dækkes liter væske.. Dekk karet med et klæde, staar klede og la det stå rolig et par dage dager i et rum, hvor der er 12—13 grader R. Heldes paa rom med 15—16 °C.. Hell på et 45 liters anker; de tiloversblevne 45-liters anker. De 4—5 l. benyttes litrene som blir til paafyldning overs brukes til etterfylling under gjæringen. Saasnart susningen av gjæringen.. Så snart susingen fra den gjærende vin ophører, vinen opphører, lukkes ankeret til med et tæt spuns; et mindre hul, som er en tett tapp. Et lite hull boret tæt tett ved siden av spunshullet, tappehullet lukkes med en kork, kork som fjernes et øyeblikk hver anden andre til tredje dag fjernes et øieblik for at la luft undvike. Efter 10 å 12 dage sættes slippe ut luft. Etter 10—12 dager settes korken fast i. Ankeret lægges fast.. Legg ankeret i en kold kjelder, ligger kald kjeller og la vinen ligge til første halvdel av januar maaned. Vinen omstikkes, januar.. Stikk om vinen, skyll ankeret skylles godt i kokt, koldt vand, kaldt vann og fyll vinen fyldes snarest mulig paa igjen; tilbake så snart som mulig. Løs gelatinen opløses i 1 l. liter av vinen vinen, hell den på ankeret og heldes paa ankeret, som spunses tapp godt til. Vinen tappes til.. Tapp vinen på flasker utover vaaren, naar våren, når stikkelsbærbuskene atter blomstrer. blomstrer igjen.

Note on Modernised

Reaumur-grader er omregnet til celsius (12—13 °R ≈ 15—16 °C). Målene er beholdt i kilo og liter, «topsukker» er oppgitt som sukker (raffinade), og trinnene er skrevet om til moderne norsk. Gjæringen kan i dag gjøres med vingjær i stedet for rosiner.

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Frequently asked questions

Why should the gooseberries not be fully ripe?
The recipe calls for not fully ripe, green gooseberries. Green berries give higher acidity and a fresher, more wine-like character in the finished wine.
How much liquid should I end up with?
50 liters in total. The juice and water with dissolved sugar and tartaric acid are topped up with water to 50 liters. About 45 liters are poured into the cask, and the remaining 4–5 liters are used for topping up during fermentation.
What is used as yeast?
1 kg raisins or wine yeast. The raisins are cleaned and crushed together with the berries before the boiled, lukewarm water (18 liters) is poured over.
How long does it take, and what temperature is needed?
The wine is a long process — allow around nine months in total. The vat is covered with a cloth and stands quietly a couple of days in a room at 12–13 degrees Réaumur (about 15–16 °C) before it is poured into the cask.

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