Fresh Green Gooseberries

Relatives of the currant, green gooseberries (aka white gooseberries, mackerel currents, grosets, grosarts) are large grapelike green berries with stripes and tiny hairs. Their flavor is rather tart, but with some sweetness, almost like a sour grape.

Green gooseberries are sometimes called “cooking gooseberries” because they are generally cooked rather than being consumed raw.

Pair gooseberries with rich meats, game birds, and fish where their tartness will act as a balancing factor, such as venison, goose, mackerel fillets, pork, duck, lamb, and salmon.

They also work well in cream based desserts, tarts, pies and custards. Gooseberry dessert recipes almost always call for a significant amount of sugar to mitigate their tart bite.