LL-L "Delectables" 2005.09.22 (02) [E]

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From: Thomas Byro <greenherring at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Delectables" 2005.09.18 (04) [E]

Elderberry juice

Does anyone know of a source of reasonably priced elderberry juice?  When I 
lived in Pennsylvania, I picked such vast quantities of the berries that I 
once filled a large freezer with the juice and still had so much juice left 
that I was forced to make 5 gallons of elderberry wine just to be able to 
save the juice.  I found some sites on the web here in the states that sell 
elderberry juice concentrate at a vast price but I am used to consuming it 
in large quantities.  I want to consume it as a food, not as an exotic 
herbal substance to be taken by the teaspoon.  Here in Manhattan, I found 
one bush in a park but I didn't have the heart to pick the berries and 
deprive the birds of the berries.  I picked up a taste for the stuff in my 
childhood in the lowlands where we picked large quantities in season.

Tom Byro

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Delectables

Tom,

While I cannot help you with a source, I can warn you of a health risk. 
Sometimes, people don't bother to separate the berries from twigs and leaves 
before pressing, and this is likely to lead to poisoning, since all but the 
berries are toxic. "The fresh leaves, flowers, bark, young buds, and roots 
contain a bitter alkaloid and also a glucoside that, under certain 
conditions, can produce hydrocyanic acid. The amount of acid produced is 
usually greatest in young leaves. There may be other toxic constituents in 
this plant. The root is probably the most poisonous and may be responsible 
for occasional pig deaths; cattle and sheep have died after eating leaves 
and young shoots."*

* http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000311.htm (describing a case 
of mass poisoning)

I don't know if this applies to the same extent to the Eurasian black 
elderberry (_Sambucus niger_) and the American (Canadian) elderberry 
(_Sambucus canadiensis_).  They are very similar (at least to the layperson) 
and both grow all over North America.  I know that indigenous people knew to 
use only the berries.  I suppose that the Eurasian type is not or less 
toxic, since the leaves and flowers have been traditionally used for 
medicinal tea. (http://www.healthcentral.com/peoplespharmacy/408/20608.html)

The other danger, as with all berries these days, is pollution.  No matter 
how lovely they look (such as blackberries that grow "wild" around here), I 
don't pick berries or any other type of fruit near a street, certainly not 
near a major street, leave alone a freeway, because of the exhaust fumes and 
tire dust they are exposed to throughout their lives.

> I picked up a taste for the stuff in my childhood in the lowlands where we
> picked large quantities in season.

So did I.  It's great chilled, tepid or hot, isn't it?  And elderberry soup! 
When I was little, elderberry picking was a family affair for us and is one 
of my favorite memories.  We'd roam far and wide with bags and buckets, and 
my dad knew the location of the best bushes.  My mom would make juice and 
"soup" and also preserve juice for the winter months when we'd get a hot 
(non-alcoholic) elderberry toddy before bed on cold Sunday evenings.  (We 
were easier to please then and there.)  When we visit my relatives in 
Germany, they usually have some elderberry juice at the ready, much more 
readily available there, commercially produced.

Perhaps this thing about pick-your-own farms is of use to you: 
http://www.pickyourown.org/nywest.htm

Good luck!
Reinhard/Ron

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