Goji is becoming the world super fruit

I love Goji Berries

Sometimes, I am deeply moved to support the work of a colleague whose endeavours are worthy. In this case, I have chosen to do what I can to raise awareness surrounding a marvelous little "happy berry" from the protected valleys of Central Asia where the berries are either wildcrafted or cultivated.  It is also called wolfberries. To prevent oxidation, they are not touched by hands. Rather, the harvesters shake the large bushes so that the ripe berries fall onto mats where they are then dried in the shade.

These berries come from Ningxia Province where pesticides have never been used. They were imported by Goji King, one of the leading online goji retailers in Europe.  You can visit their website at: http://www.gojiking.co.uk/.With your purchase of Tibetan goji berries, you are buying a superb fruit and supporting valuable work in important ethnobotany and natural medicine.

Goji berries are a specific variety of lycium, one that is not endangered. I have been working with lycium for many years already. In the past, I have made liver and eye tonics out of Chinese lycium berries as well as New Mexican wolf berries, another variety. I have also made smoothies, either with just lycium berries and water or with other ingredients such as lemon or pineapple juice, coconut milk, ginger and/or galangal juice and slices or even a touch of cardamom. I have made ice cream (absolutely the best anyone has ever tasted) with lycium berries and carrot juice with a little coconut, ginger, and cardamom.

Jam made with lycium and schizandra berries is fabulous. A winter drink such as we Swedes have at Christmas but made with lycium and fruit juice, cloves stuck into oranges, cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole green cardamom. in the pods, and perhaps a handful of galangal or ginger and a few schizandra berries will not only please guests but substitute for an aperitif ordigestive bitter. It will obviously become more of a tonic and less of a culinary masterpiece by adding some gentian and Oregon grape root and perhaps astragalus.

I have bottled lycium occasionally for use as a blood tonic and I've made the most outrageous fruit leather in the world by running goji berries and sesame seeds through a Champion juicer simultaneously. If you are lazy, you can eat these little berries like raisins, straight out of the bag or mixed with granola or tossed into a muffin or pancake mix or casserole.