MoBerry: Dandelion, acacia and pine bud delicacies in jars

The delicious MoBerry brand products fall into the category of delicacies, appreciated for quality, by the conscious customer, who wants local and healthy food. Even if the jam contains sugar, the preparation method is rustic, in small quantities, as our grandmothers did, but obviously, through a modernized process, Aneta Ganenco, president of the Association "Pomușoarele Moldovei" told us.

MoBerry is a cooperative that currently brings together 7 members, women who have been involved in the development of agriculture, especially in the berries industry. Although initially in 2016, the year of its establishment, the cooperative aimed to promote local products, gradually reoriented and produced in limited quantities, up to 1000 jars, jam from chokeberry, josta, gooseberry, dandelion, acacia, from pine buds and bitter cherries with seeds. This jam is special both due to the way it is prepared, according to modern technology, combined with great care, but also because there is very little raw material in our country, which is why it is prepared in limited quantities.

In other words, the range of MoBerry jam is varied, from our fruits that we eat in childhood to the use of dandelion flowers, acacia and even pine buds. How did you come to use the flowers to prepare the delicious contents of the jar?

MoBerry offers several collections of jam, somehow distributed by color, depending on the raw material. There is a summer collection of black fruits such as gooseberry, josta, bitter cherry and chokeberry.

The yellow collection, which was designed to spread optimism during the winter, is made of quince, ginger and lemon, another combination is made of pumpkin, orange and cinnamon, and the third yellow jam is made of pumpkin, lemon and pumpkin seeds.

Another collection of jam is the spring one that is made from pine buds, dandelion and acacia flowers. This year, I can tell you that the acacia flower jam was sold without applying the labels on the jars, consumers did not want to wait, knowing the quality of the product. The first attempt was in 2019, when around 500-600 jars were produced, which were also sold very quickly.

Dandelion flowers are collected in the spring, as soon as the flowering period begins, in April, in other words only the first fruit is used in the preparation of jam. It is known that dandelion is an excellent remedy for the treatment of liver diseases, gallbladder, this plant has many benefits, but only flowers are used for sweetness. Due to its golden color, pleasant aroma and a large number of healing properties contained in these small drops of sun, the sweetness of dandelion flowers is also called dandelion honey.

The jam from pine buds is more difficult to prepare because the pine shoots must be harvested until they reach a size of up to 5 cm, otherwise, they become bitter and nothing can reduce their bitterness. In addition, we are looking for areas, where the tops of the pine can be reached and it is a more difficult process. Little do you know that pine jam is beneficial for the oral cavity, people in the Kamchatka region, Russia are accustomed to chewing pine needles to prevent and fight dental diseases. Of course, the jam from pine buds has other health benefits, it is perfect for the cold season, to strengthen immunity and treat respiratory diseases.

Note: MoBerry is a dynamic member of the association "Pomușoarele Moldovei", even if the pandemic started in the spring of 2020, certain barriers appeared, the cooperative produced its jam collections, in small quantities, some stocks were exhausted, especially those of acacia flowers.