Mulberry Memories

October is the sweetest month in South Africa.  It's the sweetness of roses, of jacaranda and, of course, the sweetness of mulberries.

I did not grow up with bread and mealiepap, and in the same way I did not grow up with mulberries. However, mulberries have become part of my life since I moved to South Africa. I always make mulberry jam. When I see mulberries, I see jam. Nothing else. I don't see silkworms that eat mulberry leaves, albeit the fact that Vietnam is famous for mulberry silk garments.

Many South Africans grow up with mulberries. My client, who was born and grew up in Musina in Limpopo, recalls that she had a garden full of mulberry trees. The mulberry trees were a den for her children to hide away from her strict parental guidance. They loved to pick moerbei* and snack on them on the spot. And they loved to play around in the productive shade.

Besides making jam, mulberries have countless ways of use. South Africans make delicious food from mulberries like mulberry syrup, mulberry compote, mulberry pies, mulberry muffins, and mulberry wine. Those are perfect treats to comfort people who crave sweet food and wine. Some even toss mulberries in salads, which I never try. 

Mulberry jam on sourdough bread buttered with goat butter

Cycling around the suburbs of Pretoria, we spot hundreds of mulberry trees—along the road, in the veld, on the pavement, in somebody's yard. They're laden with mulberries. They are all enjoyed by birds, but birds can't eat them all. Very few people forage for mulberries. As a result, the ground is coated with deep purple from mulberries. Seeing this, we exclaim wistfully: What a waste!

This year, we went to forage for mulberries to make jam, as usual. But this time it was much more fun: the son of our friend, with his girlfriend, joined our mulberry hunt.

Many hands make light work! We picked about five kgs of mulberries from different trees. It took us three and a half hours excluding the driving time to various places.

The weather forecast predicted rain on the day we arranged to go and pick mulberries. We were a bit worried that our great idea would be nipped in the bud by the rain which we all were desperately waiting for. Mulberries are important for jam, but rain is much more important. We would not die without mulberries, but plants and vegetables would die without water. When they die, we would be in a jam.

Luckily, the rain held off while we picked mulberries and poured down later that day when I was rinsing them. So, we'll never forget that the first shower of 2024 fell on the day we picked mulberries—October 15th.

Mixed mulberries we picked: red and deep purple in different varieties

Rain came very late like politicians' promises this year, so mulberries were not as juicy as the previous years. The mulberry tree on Mrs. Malan's yard, which we used to pick mulberries from in one go every year, was trimmed to the top this year. Consequently, we had to hunt for mulberries all over the town. And because more than 50 percent of mulberries were out of reach, even for a 1.90cm-tall person like my friend, we tiptoed and stretched our arms as long as we could. But it was not always a success.

Mulberries we picked in Mrs. Malan's yard on 28 September 2022. They were big and juice and shiny.

We made a plan. Our fellow put his girlfriend on his shoulders and my husband put me on his. We giggled. We wobbled. But we didn't fall. Only our mulberries fell from our hands to our ice-cream containers with grace. People in their vehicle went past and beeped their horn at us. I wondered what they thought. They probably said, 'You're weird' or 'Hello. I see you.'

We went from tree to tree to pick enough mulberries we needed. At one tree by the driveway, one lady drove out. She wound down her car window.  Looking at us with sparkling eyes, she said with a big smile: please pick them all. Hearing that, we all had a good laugh and said: Your wish is my command. I get what she means—mulberries are super sticky and stain your soles like hell when you step on them.

Mulberry jam of 2024
We mix mulberry jam with muesli and double cream plain yogurt for breakfast
A super healthy breakfast, isn't it?

We foraged for both half-ripe and fully ripe mulberries. Then I would mix them together for jam. The half-ripe ones are bright with a red hue. The fully ripe ones are in deep blue and purple, almost black, but they are sugary and succulent. The first ones are gently sour, and the latter is as sweet as sugar. When combined, they complement each other to perfection.

We headed home with five ice-cream containers of mulberries full to the brim. And our hands were painted in deep purple. They really did not look good. I felt like I was a skinny vagabond who just dug out the trash for some food that people threw away. 

Whenever we forage for mulberries, we pick till we are tired. Usually, we will harvest about 5kg. This amount will be aplenty for jam and keep me busy in the kitchen.

When we got home, it was already 14h00. I was so hungry that I stopped to rinse mulberries and looked for something to eat; otherwise, I would faint. I could feel my blood sugar was low—I felt dizzy and weak. I told myself I would doctor up whatever I found in the fridge. The quicker the better. I made myself a slice of toast buttered with avo and no-salt butter. I squeezed some lemon juice on the mashed avo on my bread. A magic moment happened!

My thumb and index finger where mulberries stained turned from deep purple to watermelon red. And eventually the red hue vanished when I rinsed my hand with cold water. I found a trick of getting rid of mulberry stain by accident. What a Eureka moment! However, I did not run around for joy in my birthday suit like Archimedes.

When I first made mulberry jam in 2018, I meticulously snipped off every single stem from the mulberries. It was time-consuming. And it was tedious too. Luckily, at that time I picked only about 1kg of mulberries by myself, so I could manage. Since then, after tasting my divine mulberry jam, my husband joined me in picking mulberries. With the larger quantities, I no longer bother to remove every stem—there are just too many! I wish somebody would do so for me, though!

However, I can't help myself when I see big stems of mulberries sticking out from the simmering pot. I will snip them with my kitchen knife. To make sure I don't miss any big stems which would be an eyesore, I stir the pot to check for more.  Actually, the stems are edible too and turn out to be crunchy and chewy when cooked with brown sugar.

For  my jam, I follow a recipe I have developed  from my experiences.  The ratio is 3kg of mulberries to 1.5kg of brown sugar. By adding enough sugar, I can balance the tartness and thickness of the jam with the sweetness of the sugar. If too much sugar is used, you will lose the true flavours of the fruit. To make the mulberry jam even tastier, I always add a dash of crushed ginger.

My mulberry jam is special because I add no water. Instead, I simmer the mulberries coated in brown sugar until the juice is released and the sugar dissolves. The cooking process is lengthy, but it isn't a big deal—I simply let the pot simmer for hours while I go about my business. Occasionally, I check on the pot and give it a good stir. As the juice thickens and becomes stickier, the pot requires more attention and care. In the end, it took five hours to see 'the end product'—but it was worth it!

Once the juice gets sticky and runs like extra virgin olive oil, I know I need to give my stove a good rest. The jam will become stickier and thicker like honey when it cools down. Then it's time for me to bottle the jam.

Making jam like this is labour-intensive and time-consuming when people prefer something quick and easy those days.  Yet, the result is rewarding. What more can we ask for when we get to enjoy the fruits of our labour? That's the sweetness of making jam!

Regarding mulberry silk fabric which I mentioned earlier, I have an áo dài* that I had custom-made 10 years ago. I very much cherish it and only wear it for special ocasions, like the Lunar New Year celebrations. When I dress up in my red mulberry silk áo dài, I feel like I'm a bilionnaire .

Mulberry silk fabric requires gentle care because it is sensitive to washing powder and direct sunlight. To preserve its quality, I wash it by hand using a mild dishwashing liquid like Sunlight. After washing, I hang it in the shade, where it dries quickly.

This fabric is luxurious: it is as light as feather and as soft as petals. It creates a beautiful, elegant look that's perfect for special occasions. However, it does have one drawback: it wrinkles easily and requires more effort to iron compared to other fabrics. To iron mulberry silk effectively, it's best to do so on the wrong side while the fabric is still slightly damp.

I was dressing up in a mulberry silk áo dài for Tết celebrations hosted by the Embassy of Vietnam in Pretoria

A closer look of my red mulberry silk áo dài I wore to a wedding in 2018

Footnote:

Moerbei*: an afrikaans word for mulberry

Áo dài*: a traditional outfit with two long slit pieces under a loose pair of pants that Vietnamese ladies wear. Áo dài is also worn by Vietnamese men.