A Craving for Cranberries

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embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

There are two varieties of cranberry. There’s the bog cranberry, otherwise known as Vaccinium oxycoccos, which has smaller fruits (about ½ inch in size) and grows in northern and central Europe. Then there’s Vaccinium macrocarpon, which bears fruits as large as one inch in diameter.

The latter is native to North America. Indigenous inhabitants applied cranberries to wounds because it speeds up the healing process. In Europe, the local variety is valued for its antiseptic, antioxidant, and medicinal

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Dominika Bok:

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

Translation: Adam Zdrodowski

Publish date: 17.09.2021

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Dominika Bok:

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

For several years, I have been turning everything I come across into vinegar. Anywhere I go – woods and meadows, markets and allotment, forest paths and clearings, riverbanks – I forage flowers, plants, weeds, herbs, berries, fruits, roots and rhizomes. Vinegars once played an important role in herbal medicine. They were dethroned once distillation became popular – alcohol, as an excellent solvent for valuable plant ingredients, has dominated herbal remedies. I appreciate tinctures and I do make them myself, but my heart belongs to vinegars.

The best known herbal vinegar in the European herbal community is the four thieves vinegar supposedly invented during the Black Death epidemic. According to legend, it protected a group of looters from catching the disease, while others dropped like flies. Last year, I tried to make this concoction during a trip to southern France. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find all the necessary ingredients (angelica, rosemary, rue, lavender, wormwood, sage, cloves and oregano). This year, I will make another attempt.

A Craving for Cranberries

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The Power of Vinegar

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