Other Names: Agracejo (Spanish); berberis (Arabic); berbery;
épine vinette (French); European berberry; holy thorn;
pipperidge bush; sowberry; zereshk (Farsi). General Description:
Barberries (Berberis vulgaris) grow in elongated clusters; when
dried the bright red berries resemble miniature red currants and
are used in cooking for their pleasantly acidic taste and fruity
aroma. There are many species of the genus Berberis, some of
which are poisonous. Because barberry is host to a type of rust
that affects wheat, it has long been unpopular with farmers; it
was responsible for famines in early tenth-century Spain. Early
American settlers preserved barberries in syrup or vinegar and
made them into jelly. Confiture d’épine vinette, a celebrated
French jam that’s a specialty of Rouen and Dijon, is made from a
seedless form of barberry; a liqueur is made from this seedless
variety, too. In Afghan and Iranian cooking, barberry flavors
rice dishes, and in Iran it’s used in kookoo-ye sabzi (an herb
omelet) and polow