Elderberry pulp – made from pure fruit

Elderberry pulp from whole berries, dark and tart

Elderberry pulp is the strained fruit flesh of the black elderberry, heated through and with no added sugar; it contains naturally occurring sugar. It flows rather than sits, and has a tart, acidic taste with the dark depth that has defined North German elderberry soup for generations.

The elderberry pulp from the Antonio Viani range consists of 100 percent elderberries, and nothing else. In a 290-gram jar, it contains naturally occurring sugar, 5.6 grams per 100 grams. Of all the pulps in this range, it is the thinnest, almost like a thick juice, and stains everything it touches a deep violet.

Not a berry, but a small stone fruit

What hangs in heavy clusters on the black elder bush are botanically not berries, but stone fruits, usually with three seeds inside.

Sambucus nigra belongs to the Adoxaceae family. There are over twenty species in this genus worldwide, three of which are native to Central Europe: black elder, red elder, and dwarf elder. The clusters ripen in August and September, when the panicles bend downward under their own weight.

In the north, the shrub is called "Flieder" (lilac) and the fruit "Fliederbeere," in the Bavarian-Austrian south it is called "Holler," and in the southwest "Holder." Three names for the same plant that grows along roadsides, in hedgerows, and behind barns without anyone ever having planted it.

Elderberries are never processed raw. The berries contain sambunigrin, which breaks down when heated, which is why every pulp is heated through before going into the jar. This one, too, has seen the kettle.

Elderberry soup with dumplings and more

On the palate, the pulp is tart and acidic, with a dark, almost earthy note reminiscent of the forest floor in late summer. The acidity leads, making it a counterpart rather than something cloying.

The most famous use is elderberry soup, a specialty of Northern Germany and Denmark, popular primarily in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. For this, the pulp is thickened with water and starch, boiled with apple and pear pieces, lemon peel, and a clove, and served hot with small flour dumplings, known as "Klackerklümp," or semolina dumplings.

In Schleswig-Holstein, it is called "Knicksupp" because the elder grows in the "Knick"—the hedgerow between two fields. Autumn and winter are its seasons, and anyone who has eaten it prepared correctly understands why there is no substitute product for it.

Furthermore, the pulp is used in sauces for game, duck breast, and beef, makes red cabbage darker and rounder, and is spooned into yogurt, muesli, crepes, and sorbet. A tablespoon in a salad dressing can almost replace the vinegar. Once opened, the jar belongs in the refrigerator, and anyone working with it would be better off wearing an apron.

How a Northern light makes it onto an Italian shelf

Antonio Viani Importe GmbH is responsible for this range.

The fact that a North German classic like elderberry pulp is found in an Italian-influenced assortment fits the picture better than it might first sound: what is sought is quality, handmade products, not a passport.

Under its own house brand, Viani bundles four single-varietal pulps in the same jar: elderberry, rosehip, sea buckthorn, and quince. Its siblings on the shelf are the rosehip pulp and the sea buckthorn pulp, both also made from a single fruit.

More from this category can be found under Compotes and Preserves, and the complete assortment of the house in the collection Antonio Viani Importe. Dark, tart, uncompromisingly acidic. A pulp that makes no concessions.