Zhuravinny mors

Ingredients

The berries

• 500 gcranberries
• fresh or frozen
• picked over for stems and leaves
• or 400 g frozen cranberries
• used straight from frozen

The liquid and sweetening

• 2 litreswater
• 150 gsugar
• or to taste
• or 150 ml honey
• added off the heat

Sometimes added

• a strip of lemon peel
• 2cloves
• a small piece of cinnamon
• a few mint leaves
• a handful of lingonberries

Equipment

• a wooden or plastic masher
• not metal, see the note
• a fine sieve or muslin
• a non-reactive pan
• clean bottles or a jug

Directions

1. Use a wooden or plastic masher. Use a glass or ceramic bowl. Use a stainless steel or enamelled pan. Pick them over carefully first. Remove stems, leaves and any soft berries. Rinse them in cold water. Drain them thoroughly. Frozen cranberries need no thawing.
2. Put the berries in a non-metal bowl. Crush them with a wooden masher. Work them thoroughly until they break down. Do not blend to a smooth purée though. Set a fine sieve over a clean bowl. Line it with muslin for a clearer juice. Pour the crushed berries into it. Press them firmly with a wooden spoon.
3. Squeeze the muslin if you are using it. Set that raw juice aside completely. Cover it and keep it cool. Put the pressed pulp in a pan. Add the two litres of water. Add the sugar to the pan.
4. Add whole spices if you are using them. Bring it to a boil. Simmer it for about ten minutes. Pour it through a fine sieve. Press the pulp once more. Discard the spent pulp afterwards. Let it cool to lukewarm at least.
5. Stir the reserved raw juice into the cooled liquid. Stir it through thoroughly. Add more sugar if it is too sharp. The drink should stay sharp though.
6. Add honey now if you prefer it. Honey must go in off the heat. Heat destroys its aroma compounds. Pour it into clean bottles or a jug. Refrigerate it for several hours.
7. Serve it cold in tall glasses. Serve it over ice in hot weather. Add a few mint leaves if you like. It keeps three days refrigerated. Shake or stir it before pouring. Discard it if it tastes fizzy or fermented. Freeze it in bottles with space at the top. Fresh cranberries keep weeks refrigerated.

Technique

• Mors is not simply boiled fruit juice, and that distinction matters. The berries are crushed and the raw juice strained off and set aside; only the pulp is boiled, and the raw juice goes back in at the end. That preserves the fresh sharp flavour and the vitamin C, both of which boiling destroys. Many recipes skip it and produce a duller drink.
• Let the boiled liquid cool to lukewarm before adding the raw juice back. Adding it to boiling liquid cooks it and defeats the whole method.
• Do not crush the berries in a metal bowl or with a metal masher, and avoid aluminium and unlined copper pans. Berry acids react with some metals, giving a metallic taste and discolouring the juice.
• Frozen cranberries work very well and need no thawing. Freezing breaks down the cell walls and actually helps release the juice.
• Keep it sharp. Cranberries are genuinely sour and the drink is meant to be sharp rather than sweet like a squash — that sharpness is its character.
• Add honey off the heat if you use it. Heat destroys its aroma compounds and it ends up tasting simply like sugar.
• Cranberries were traditionally stored in barrels of cold water in a cellar, keeping for months. That works because cranberries are very high in benzoic acid, a natural preservative that inhibits bacteria and moulds — the berries preserve themselves, which is genuinely unusual among fruit.
• Cranberry can interact with some medications, warfarin being the one usually named. That interaction is documented; anyone taking such medication should ask a pharmacist. The atlas makes no health claim about the drink itself.
• Leave space at the top when freezing bottles. Liquid expands as it freezes and a full sealed bottle will burst.

Substitutions

• Frozen cranberries replace fresh entirely and work just as well.
• Lingonberries, blackcurrants or sour cherries replace cranberries for related mors drinks.
• Honey replaces sugar; add it off the heat to keep its character.
• A strip of lemon peel, cloves or a little cinnamon are all common additions; the plainest version has none.
• Sparkling water in place of some of the still water makes a fizzy version.
• Bottled mors is sold widely in the region and is what many households now buy.

Variations

• Brusnichny mors, made with lingonberries, is the other great berry drink of the region.
• A hot version, warmed with spices, is drunk in winter and is closer to a fruit tea.
• Kissel is the thicker starch-set relative, eaten with a spoon rather than drunk.
• Kompot, dried or fresh fruit simmered with sugar, is the other everyday household drink.
• Some households add a handful of lingonberries alongside the cranberries for a rounder flavour.
• A version left to ferment lightly becomes a mildly alcoholic drink, though that is a different thing.

History

Made from the cranberries of Belarusian peat bogs, long picked in autumn and kept in cold water.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zhuravinny mors?

Zhuravinny mors is a drink from Belarus: cranberry juice with sugar and water, served cold and sharp. Made from the cranberries of Belarusian peat bogs, long picked in autumn and kept in cold water.

How long does Zhuravinny mors take to make?

Zhuravinny mors takes 20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 2 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Zhuravinny mors?

Yes, within limits. Frozen cranberries replace fresh entirely and work just as well. Lingonberries, blackcurrants or sour cherries replace cranberries for related mors drinks. Honey replaces sugar; add it off the heat to keep its character. A strip of lemon peel, cloves or a little cinnamon are all common additions; the plainest version has none. Sparkling water in place of some of the still water makes a fizzy version. Bottled mors is sold widely in the region and is what many households now buy.

What is the most important thing to get right in Zhuravinny mors?

Put the berries in a non-metal bowl. Crush them with a wooden masher. Work them thoroughly until they break down. Do not blend to a smooth purée though. Set a fine sieve over a clean bowl. Line it with muslin for a clearer juice. Pour the crushed berries into it. Press them firmly with a wooden spoon.