The Quick Trick to Give Berries a Way Longer Shelf Life
There are few happier times of year than berry season, are we right? During mid-to-late summer, markets, produce stands and grocery stores are swimming in fresh, ripe and delicious berries ready to be gobbled up in pies, parfaits and fruit salads. The only real dilemma here is that — and I know I’m not alone here — sometimes we get a little carried away and buy too many berries (hard to believe there’s such a thing …) and they start to turn before I even touch ’em. Womp, womp. But alas, the folks over at Bon Appétit just pointed out a technique that will keep your berries around longer — and make your work lunches feel WAY more fancy (even if you are eating them out of a plastic Tupperware container).
Here’s the deal: It’s all about the quick pickle. Yes: Pickling berries. Doing so will make ’em last for up to four weeks on your fridge’s shelf. You can find the full rundown of how to do so here, but a quick breakdown of the method: combine champagne vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and water in a jar and give it a good shake. Once all the sugar is dissolved, you can throw in the berries — making sure all of the berries are fully submerged in the pickling solution — and let them sit in the fridge for about four hours. And voila! You have firm, season-fresh berries ready to be devoured for up to a month!
As the experts over on Bon Appétit note, the pickling method is ideal for the more firm berries — so blackberries, cherries, gooseberries, blueberries and underripe strawberries work best. Once pickled, you can thrown ’em onto whatever you usually throw pickled goodies onto: salads, rice bowls, and so on. YUM.
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