Day 107: Svart Vinbär Saft

Svart vinbär (pronounced sv + "art" and "veen-bear"), or black currant in English, is one of my favorite flavors that Sweden has introduced to my palate. It reminds me of the summers here, picking fresh berries right off the bush and stuffing them into my mouth. Of baking sweet, tart, summery pies with mounds of them piled into the center... then eaten with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce, another specialty that I've discovered in Sweden. You don't even have to make the vanilla sauce, as it comes ready-made in these cute, little cartons in the refrigerated section and it truly tastes as good or better than homemade so what's the point?

We actually have a small amount of svart vinbär waiting patiently in our freezer to be baked into a delicious pie, or some other wonderful treat. This week may be the week that a pie comes to fruition. I can feel it in my bones. But more than a feeling in my bones is the lovely taste on my tongue right now of svart vinbär saft (fruit syrup) mixed with sparkling water. Refreshing and heavenly are the two words that come to mind. While grocery shopping the other day I decided that we needed something tasty to drink that was not soda or juice or alcohol but something festive and fun. And going along with my summer-fever I thought maybe some bottled saft would do the trick.

Many people who harvest an abundance of svart vinbär, as well as other summer fruits, often cook them down into saft and bottle them to store and enjoy through the winter. It is a days work and it requires a rather large abundance of berries. I only know this because some friends of ours were in the process of making saft last summer during one of our visits and I learned the secrets of making this delectable dew of the Swedish gods. Well, we didn't have an [over] abundance of svart vinbär so unfortunately we could not  make saft ourselves. Lucky for us several nice companies make it and sell it in the grocery store.

If one were to judge how long it would last in our household by how quickly the first bottle disappeared, we would have had to make tons of barrels of the stuff to last through the winter, let alone the entire year. I will say however that it does help with summer fever. And since summer is still a few months away, I will have to appease my fever with store, bought saft. I'm even thinking of writing to the company to tell them they should rename the svart vinbär saft: Love Potion. It is simple and to the point. I think it works. What do you think?