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CHOKEBERRIES (Aronia) - A North American Fruit That is Popular in Europe - Weird Fruit Explorer
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Episode 592: Chokeberry
Scientific Name: Aronia melanocarpa
Thanks to www.wanderlustn... for sending these to me.
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Пікірлер: 338
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@armokgodofblood2504
2 жыл бұрын
Can you try to get citrus glauca (desert lime)?
This dude deserves all the sponsorships after putting on a show like that!
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
thanks!
@thebigdawgj
2 жыл бұрын
Lolno. Thank goodness for SponsorBlock.
@zooq1139
2 жыл бұрын
Jared is a contortionist so I'm not surprised!
@LutherMarshOrganics
11 ай бұрын
Us farmers really appreciate him!
Aronia is very popular in Poland (most of the products you showed are Polish brands). I remember having several bushes at my family house in the countryside and making kompot out of them every year.
@Tsuchimursu
2 жыл бұрын
Yes, that is what I did in Finland at my parents place as well, lol
@SeeNyuOG
2 жыл бұрын
Aronia is growing like crazy. I have multiple bushes. Sadly I cannot stand the tartness. Especially raw
@huhusmremre
2 жыл бұрын
Saaame, we have a couple of bushes at my mom's house back in Poland, we mostly use them to make... smoothies would be the right word I guess. Blend a bunch with sugar and buttermilk and it's delicious!
@ivy_47
2 жыл бұрын
And the tea was Macedonian, interestingly!
@AgataStrucka
2 жыл бұрын
Came here to say it! I have two aronia bushes in my allotment - they have a ton of berries on them every year. Definitely very popular in Poland, my grandma used to make juices and jams with it. It’s also sometimes used as an ornamental shrub, as it’s hardy and looks beautiful in autumn.
My family had chokeberry growing in the back yard. My grandmother cried when her new home so far from Poland welcomed her with something so familiar.
@jaredkodiak8160
2 жыл бұрын
Aww what a nice memory, that made me smile
@donnakeizer1468
11 ай бұрын
I made jam. So good.
@LutherMarshOrganics
11 ай бұрын
That’s amazing to hear
I grew up in Sweden with a lot of people having them in their gardens as bushes on the property lines, but no one seemed to eat or use them for much else than that. Then it became trendy some years ago as a "superberry" and very expensive juice could be found in some stores.
@Outoinen
2 жыл бұрын
Same with Finland. Kids used to throw each other with these and adults would only scoff them about messing their clothes. Now the adults would yell about wasting the berries. 😅
@vyznev
2 жыл бұрын
They're still all over most Finnish towns, often planted as decorative bushes on public land. Not a lot of people pick them (which kind of makes sense when they're growing right next to a busy road, as they often are) and even the local birds don't seem to care much for them, so if you want some, you can probably just find some local bushes (preferably _not_ right next to the main road), go out with a bucket right around this time of the year and grab as many as you want.
I was weirded outb by the jacket skit the first time but then i remember your other job is a circus performer
In Poland aronia is very often added into different “mixed fruit” juices, teas and jams. It’s common, but rarely on its’ own, mostly because of the tartness. At the same time it gives products beautiful color, and also enriches them in vitamins and antioxidants. It’s a very healthy little fruit :)
@LutherMarshOrganics
11 ай бұрын
What are they called in Poland?
I used to est these as a kid as they grew in my grandparents backyard. Everyone else hated them raw but I loved them. I loved shoving a handful into my mouth. I wouldn’t say they are particularly common in Europe. You can find chokeberry flavored products in some countries, like Poland, but 99.9% of Europeans have never had this fruit fresh. Sadly a lot of the processed chokeberry products contain only a small amount of chokeberries. You can buy real chokeberry syrups and jams online and from more traditional retailers, but they can be pricey and not really worth it, as there are myriad far better berries.
@pablovegas743
2 жыл бұрын
Also at least where I live in Europe, fresh chokeberries are expensive and they sell them only in just a handful of stores.
@henryvalickis2094
2 жыл бұрын
I used to eat them all the time and my grandma makes chokeberry juice concentrate. And for some reason i realy like the kind of grainy texture the flesh has.
@excitedbox5705
2 жыл бұрын
more of an old people thing. All my grandparents would drink the juice with a shot of water in it. Also the jam and tea cookie sandwiches with the jam between the layers.
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
@@pablovegas743 посади семена из свежих ягод. Но чтобы они начали рости, нужно на 3 месяца положить во влажный песок. В холодильник.
I've been growing Aronia here in Anchorage, AK for several years. Russians know it as "black mountain ash." European mountain ash grows all over the city, but even after a deep freeze, their berries are less than delightful. I Have a "red mountain ash" that a Russian botanist created by hybridizing the European mountain ash with aronia. Frankly, aronia is better by far - and it survives our Zone-3-pushing-2 conditions just fine. Jam made from 1-1 sugar and berries is delicious. What I don't understand is why so many people continue to plant cotoneaster. The two plants look similar, ariona has bigger leaves, more and prettier flowers, and prettier berries, but the biggest advantage is that you can actually eat the berries. I ripped out two perfectly healthy cotoneasters to put in some more aronia - big fan!
Now THAT is the best way to have your audience watch your sponsor bit! I enjoyed it the first time and anytime is highly entertaining! Great content as usual, I’d not expect any less. Thank you! I wish good health, happiness and all the best to you and yours!
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Wesley!
The straitjacket makes me imagine what a "Weird Explorer But Out of Context" video would be like.
My parents make sweet aronia liqueur every year as soon as fresh aronia fruits are available, and it's honestly the best alcohol I've ever had.
The whole chokecherry vs chokeberry thing is one of the easiest examples of common names for plants being quite confusing. Aronia Melanocarpa works for me ;)
Combined with apples in a steam juicer you get ambrosia of the gods.
@sdfkjgh
2 жыл бұрын
@Worm Instool: I'm sorry, I gotta be pedantic here. Ambrosia was the food, nectar was the drink of the Gods.
@worminstool
2 жыл бұрын
@@sdfkjgh Thanks for the correction.
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
Спасибо за совет!
It is worth noting that the ‘European chokeberry cultivars ’ are different than native American - the fruits are bigger, foliage have different colour in the autumn etc. They were probably hybridised by Michurin in the early twenties of XX century. Native varieties include black and red chokeberries with smaller and less sweet fruits.
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
interesting!
@niuthon
2 жыл бұрын
@@WeirdExplorer It is quite interesting - I had 2000 bushes in the nineties, and only now I realized that it is different than wild Aronia. I also highly recommend reading about history of Ivan Michurin and his fruit tree creations. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/×_Sorbaronia_mitschurinii
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
@@niuthon В России есть человек который выращивает шелковицу, черешню, персики, абрикосы в зоне usda 2-3
Really excited for this. I'm always super curious about native North American edible plants and fruit especially, so this is awesome.
We’ve grown these for years. Make a simple syrup from it and it becomes the only way to drink gin.
@drjekyllmshyde
2 жыл бұрын
Oh that sounds fabulous I'm gonna try that. Is there a gin you recommend? They all taste so different
In the Netherlands we call it “Appelbes” which means Apple berry. This makes sense now that I know that the two are related. Great video, Thanks.
@katelijnhovestad8382
Жыл бұрын
I am dutch and i had never heard of these in my life before today, i thought they were poisonous because i confused them with pokeberries lol
@abelstropicalfruit8647
Жыл бұрын
@@katelijnhovestad8382 Ze worden vaak in parken aangeplant. Erg geschikt voor jam.
I love me some really herbal and bitter berries, just comes with being a Finn and having grown gathering berries in the forest I guess. Those juices I could drink by themselves for days, and as somewhat of a connoisseur they really do taste better if you really sip and savour them.
Your personality really shines in this video. i found it hilarious and very enjoyable
I love that this is something you, the Weird Fruit Guy, never tried before, while it's something so normal to me... Which obviously makes sense, I live where these are common but it's a weird feeling I never thought I'd experience.
I live in Poland. Aronia is as popular as orange or grape. But actually we don't have raw fruit available at supermarket but all kinds of aronia flavour stuff, jams, syrups, tea (which is actually very tasty, kinda like cranberry and blueberry combined, ofc taste depends on the brand) and obviously people have aronia trees and make all kinds of alcohol drinks, wine, vodka, nalewka (fruits plus sugar and spirytus- pure alcohol and then it's left to ferment). My uncle just made amazing nalewka from aronia and it's so tasteful, sweet and stringy consistency of thick syrup.
Aronia bushes have very vibrant deep red leaves at fall, really beautiful
"Wait I have an idea... " is now just a thing.
I'm Polish (but living abroad in Ireland). Love aronia but can never get it fresh in Ireland, so I always need to resort to aronia products. Glad to see it talked about, never knew it was originally North American!
Gods, finally! it about killed me when you did the last straight jacket ad and didn’t get out of it at the end, lol.
Yes, another video to make my day. Never stop! You've turned me into a huge fruit nerd...
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
Glad to hear it! plenty more on the way!
Aronija is a very popular fruit in Latvia. We ourselves have 2 bushes and it makes the tastiest syrup ever.
Perfect timing. I just picked a couple of cups of chokeberries today, and was trying to decide what to do with them. I think I will try Aronia Curd.
In Udmurtia region of Russia we like to make juice with aronia and apple combined. Work really well together - apple makes it sweeter and milder, not as astringent and aronia gives it more interesting, deep berry taste and beautiful color
The editing, the music, the everything!! Just ah you did a really good job with this video!
When you talked about missing the jam, I thought you were gonna make jam. Then, you performed some kind of alchemy and turned it into something that I now have to try with every kind of fruit. Curd. Mind blown. 🤯
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
curd is so good and not that hard to make!
Thanks for the review on chokeberry. I want to grow some now :)
I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a commercial as much as the one embedded in this video.
I just found aronia jam at my local Farmer's market, it's fantastic, like a cross between raspberry and cranberry flavors, with an herbal back note
I grow them, and they are pretty easy plant to grow honestly. They are high in polyphenols, higher than Elderberries, which are so commonly used for the same reason. The difference is, I can use Aronia fresh, like in a shake, yogurt, or something like that.
To me it tastes like a rowanberry but with a bit of sweetness to it. In sweden we usualy freeze them first since they become a little bit sweeter from it.
I grow Aronia in my yard and have tried Aronia juice and syrup, as well as the fresh fruit in my yard. I have to say that I can eat a lot of fruit that others would probably hate, but cannot get past the metallic taste that Aronia leaves in my mouth. The syrup I bought was sweet, but had that taste also and wasn't very flavorful (even adding Aronia with other fruits in blended drink helped make it more palatable, but I still could taste the metallic flavor). So this past season I just left the Aronia fruit on my plant and didn't even bother to pick it. I always enjoy your videos and appreciate your reviews and opinions on different varieties of fruit.
Adds are fun with your day job included in them
My grandmother used to make Chokecherry jam all the time, I loved it.
Thanks for the video. At my home in northern Michigan, Chokeberry grows along the shoreline, and I enjoy a bountiful harvest in late September. I toss the berries on breakfast cereal and in my yogurt. To me, the berries have a slight blueberry taste, although they taste "dryer", if that makes any sense. Good stuff!
I thought straight jacket Wednesday was funny the 1st time, and I still chuckled even though I knew what was coming. Well done Sir
They are really REALLY popular! Here in The Balkans we use them to make jam and liquor. I'm not the biggest fan (when eating them raw) coz it's sourish and bitter, but sometimes a sweeter one does come! The jam if phenomenal, recommend it to everyone!
What was great about this episode? Everything!!! Even the sponsor info was fun :) That chokeberry curd looked yummy! Thanks for sharing :)
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Good pallet that you said it tastes like black cherries. I've seen Aronia used to enhance the cherry flavor in commercial cheery syrup.
Costco used to carry gallon jugs of Aronia berry juice, and I LOVED IT sooo much. It stopped being sold around 20 years ago, but I still remember the flavor, and miss it. I occasionally see it in small jugs in organic sections, but i'm not interested in a higher markup to likely be disappointed. I would agree good Aronia berry juice is strong, not too sweet, and similar to cranberry in both flavor and astringency. After seeing this video, I'm going to have to find some more juice, even if I have to make it myself. Thanks for the video omg there's tea?! I have to try it
i have 2 bushes producing aronia currently and i would say your spot on describing them, thinking of adding them to the wine i'am making
Just realized that these are the berry bushes growing in my backyard. The squirrels always eat them & i never thought to. Def gonna pick them myself this fall. Thanks.
I've planted a chokeberry this autumn. I need many many berries. My favorite method of brewing this tisane is with Sideritis. The flavors are out of this world.
This is super high in antioxidants. We make an aronia wine up here in North Dakota that is quite popular. It does have an earthy flavor.
I pick and eat these in random places where I find them growing as an ornamental plant. One time I did it close to a mall, and somebody must have seen me and grown concerned that I was trying to poison myself (which I obviously wasn't), because the next time I walked by, the plants weren't there anymore. The landscaping was mostly the same, but there were no more aronia bushes. I knew what they were right away, but I used a plant identifier app called Picture This to make sure. It works over 90% of the time, and it's actually very fun to use. I don't know if they were dwarf bushes, but they were smaller than usual. The berries were still astringent.
Always love your videos but that ad was next level, kudos!
I have been looking for Aronia berry juice for a LONG TIME! Had it in my town for about 10 months. Miss it! THANK YOU FOR THIS! Also best Wednesday in a long time!
Loving the Hammond jam in this.
I have two big aronia bushes in my garden, and they usually produce a ton of berries when they do. I haven't figured out what's the best thing to make out of them yet, due to their astringent taste. The aronia-curd looks like a good thing to try out👍
I ate this this morning . Somehow we wound up with quite a bit in the fridge from the market.. Disagree with the bitterness part, ive not found them bitter at all, but a lot more sour and astringent..
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
Был в заброшеных садах. Там у каждого куста ягоды немного отличаются по вкусу от 4 до 5 баллов. Нет, другие вкусы не появляются. Просто лучше или хуже.
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
А ещё видел растение очень похожее на вишню. Но ягоды овальные и косточка тоже. Как называется? Вкус не вспомню, прошлым летом ел.
loved this cooking show
Awesome video as always! If I ever happen to find these I’ll be sure to plan on making jam or curd rather than eating them raw.
@DVolF
2 жыл бұрын
Меня утром тошнило после творога с этими ягодами. Съел много и ягоды собирал зимой.
I bought a tree off of ebay and after the transaction went through one of these popped up as an "item you might be interested in" and now I'm on KZread and this video gets recommended to me
the other native species is red chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia. Never tried it but its reported to be better tasting than the black chokeberry.
Your videos have really evolved now
I've seen these berries before, at summer camp, but we called them dog ebrries, and we were told they weren't poisonous but did cause stomache upset in people and that dogs could nd did eat them medicinally for internal parasites. The berries start out red in the summer and turn black as fautumn approaches and become fully black by October.
LOLOL I guess I'm not OG enough cuz I heard the mention of a sponsor and saw a straight jacket and though "no...he isn't going to say betterhelp...I mean it's gotta be betterhelp right? Oh god." Then I see curiosity stream to pass the time for him so escape the jacket like a magician. *sits back and relaxes again*
Best Sponsorship clip ever
Where I live in Germany it is becoming increasingly popular as low hedging along roadsides. Throughout late summer and into winter these shrubs are laden with black fruit which usually doesn't get picked and just falls to the ground after a few months. I don't really know why it's becoming popular as roadside plantings but I guess for people interested in tasting them it's now easy to find some choke cherry fruit.
I’m growing these in my yard in PA. I’ve seen them around different cities as landscaping bushes. Also if you freeze them it will cut down on some of the astringency.
5:30 Don't think you are supposed to drink it straight out of bottle but to dilute it with water first
so you made chokeberry hollandaise sauce. Looks amazing. Edit: Oh that's a curd. Looks amazing.
It's interesting how you said it's like wine without it being wine. I had never heard of it until a few minutes ago, when I discovered it for sale. It's color drew me in. I wondered if it would make a good wine. Based on your description of its complexity, I'm thinking yes. I'm going to try it for wine making.
Thank you for this video ! 🤗💐
I know you don't drink but there is a winery in. Cape May NJ that makes aronia wine and it is very good! Full of antioxidants! Definitely a good gift for those who do!
Where I live we have choke cherries and choke berries, we use the names interchangeably here mostly because they are both edible so it doesn't matter much.
I got some plants on clearance once at Tractor Supply but they were in rough shape and didn't make it. I haven't seen them anywhere since.
Best ad ever, you showman
This is off topic but I've noticed that your videos often get 7 dislikes fairly soon after you post your videos. I can only assume there is some sad lonely person that is subscribed to the channel just so they can dislike videos early. They probably don't realise that all interactions with the channel help with the algorithms so they are actually helping you. Great video as always, will have to have a look in the little Polish shops local to me to see if they have anything chokeberry related.
Great episode
I used to pluck these from the bushes along our tree line and mix them in my leaves and mud as 'potions' as a small kid
ahh i see now why the chokecherry ep was pulled from the vault the other day 😆
@WeirdExplorer
2 жыл бұрын
Trying to clear up the confusion 😄
Jared, what a wonderful weirdo you are! Such thanks coming at you! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Sounds like it would pair well in savory dishes where you would traditionally add cranberries or cherries.
I might buy a plant and grow it in my garden, sounds like a good idea.
Great video!
I bought a jar of Chokeberry jam from an Apple grower in Western North Carolina. It's delicious.
It is becoming popular in Chicagoland as a fall color substitute for invasive burning bush. Most people don't realize it is edible, but depending on how close they are to the streets (or various other toxic waste dumps that occur in urban monstrosities), it might not be.
We have them a lot in Serbia also, I have them in my back yard right hahah! They say theyre really healthy to eat raw but they taste really strong and not sweet- I make jam out of them :b
you should try: Turk's cap fruit or Mexican apple (Malvaviscus arboreus) when I eat it, It gives me a story, of how it is to eat like an animal. I believe it has a very wild and foraged taste if that makes sense. it is a common native fruit to texas and Mexico, if you are in texas you can find it basically anywhere outside, but you will have a hard time finding it in a store, maybe in Mexico, you will find them in stores. the flower is also edible and very sweet, I think it would be an awesome fruit for you to try! :)
Please make a video on the strange South East Asian pumpkin called Trichosanthes Pilosa (also known as Red Ball Snake Fruit / Bali Melon etc). It has the grossest dark green coloured sappy seeds, encased by a redish orange coloured shell.
@erikjohnson9223
2 жыл бұрын
Trichosanthes also have bizarre, "tendrilly," nocturnal flowers. I would plant one as an ornamental.
Cool! I am north of Dallas and planted 4 of these last year. They seem to be doing well, so far.
So now I know how to get out of a straight jacket...all it takes is damn near dislocating a shoulder. There is a Balkan grocery store not far from me, so I may have to go and look for some of these products. Thanks for the tip.
Wish I would have known you wanted to try this, I harvested a gallon freezer bag worth in August. City parks in Eastern Montana have them, but the majority of the "choke" fruits here are millions of chokecherry plants.
"Chokeberry Jam." Cool band, man.
Dude the tunes in this video are sicks that new Orleans organ jam
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the weirdest fruit explorer of them all? ------2 mins later. Gets youtube notification on chokeberries
When I heard the description of the taste and then the comparison to wine my brain went right to choke berry syrup for like cocktails or sodas
I Have these growing everywhere by where I live but I never thought anyone actually ate them
Chokberry sounds similar to bilberry. I know you're not a meat eater but most of these slightly tart berries and currants are good with game :)
This episode is now one of my top favorites XD
I have two varieties in the front yard, one Viking and two of a Iroquois Beauty cultivar that I think tastes a little better (smaller berries though). I don't really notice the astringency too much, it's fairly mild to me. Not very sweet or strong flavored. The berries hang on the plant for a reallly long time after ripening.
Very popular in Slovenia, as jams and liqueurs like Dindol, and for good reason. Super pretty and tasty.
You might have just over steeped the tea-you could try pouring it over ice and having iced tea ! It could help with the potency, or just steep for 2-3 minutes instead and then take the tea bag out