We have been experimenting with sweet accompaniments for cheese. For many years we have paired hard sheep’s or goat’s milk cheeses with carne de membrillo ( quince cheese). More recently we have been eating homemade soft-set white currant jelly with washed-rind cheeses This Autumn we have been foraging in local hedgerows for sloes (endrinas); the fruits of the blackthorn tree. There is lots of debate about when to pick sloes. They should be ripe before picking: a rich dark purple that should squash easily between your fingertips. It’s a good sign if they’ve already started to drop naturally to the ground. The shrub, with its savage thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a livestock proof hedge. The fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather tart and astringent for eating, unless it is picked after the first few days of autumn frost. This effect can be reproduced by freezing harvested sloes.
We probably picked them a little early so we did freeze them and once thawed used them to make sloe cheese. (Carne de Endrinas) I used Mary Norwak’s recipe from her “The Complete Book of Home Preserving”
A great success! It pairs well with any cheese!
In Navarra, Spain, sloes are used to make a liquor known as Pacharán. It is usually served as a digestif either chilled or on ice
