Sea Buckthorn Is the Latest Superfruit to Crack Michelin-Starred Menus

The vibrant berry comes in a range of oranges and reds and is the Nordic answer to a hit of lemon. Behind its tartness, the pulpy fruit has a light carroty sweetness; if you eat a whole one, it pops tantalizingly in your mouth.

It’s also especially rich in vitamin C (about 12 times as much as an orange) and vitamins. Unlike most plant foods, sea buckthorn contains B12, a nutrient usually found in animal products, making it popular with vegetarians. It’s also one of the few edible plants that has all four omega fatty acids, which can promote collagen growth. In skin products, the berry extract is often applied to sunburns because it’s thought to ease inflammation.

The sea buckthorn bush is native to Asia and Europe and has an affinity for sandy soil. It grows in places as diverse as the Himalayas, Russia, and the Canadian prairies around Manitoba. Its berries ripen in the fall but are challenging to harvest because, true to its name, the bushes are thorny. Alexander Cruz, a partner in Ecole-B, a Quebec-based specialty food marketing company that sources North American products, says that harvesters wait for the branches to freeze and then shake the berries off.

He estimates that demand has grown tenfold in the past decade and lauds the berries’ versatility: “With strawberries and blueberries, there’s just one or two varieties. Sea buckthorn has around 20, more like apples, with flavors that range from 0% acidity, like passion fruit, to super bitter, super tart.” But since they’re hard to harvest and shipped frozen, they can top $15 a pound.

In spite of the expense, sea buckthorn has crept onto menus. At the Russian-celebrating Kachka in Portland, Ore., chef and co-owner Bonnie Morales used the berry in everything from a honey soda drink to a relish for machanka, a Belarusian meaty gravy served with blini, as well as in a vinaigrette for the raw fish dish, scallop stroganina.

In New York, ABCV chef Neal Harden features the juice in a breakfast smoothie bowl. “There’s lots of talk about things like açai, but buckthorn grows closer to home,” he notes. “It also has a tropical fruitlike funk to it and a bracing acidity.” Emma Bengtsson, chef at Michelin two-starred Aquavit, features the berry in her signature Arctic Bird’s Nest dessert with blueberries and goat cheese. “I needed something yellow to symbolize the egg yolk that could also brighten up the richness of the goat cheese parfait,” she says.

At his San Francisco live-fire grill, Prairie, chef Anthony Strong uses it in a healthy-ish gin cocktail made with Cocchi Americano, lime, and ginger. He first mixed it with alcohol at a Beyoncé show, hence the drink’s name: Becky With the Good Hair. “This is exactly the type of drink Becky would drink four of at brunch,” he says. “It’s both cool and not cool—a detox and a retox.”

Becky With the Good Hair

Recipe adapted from chef Anthony Strong

Serves 4

1 cup sea buckthorn berries
2 tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp. lime juice
3 oz. gin
3 oz. Cocchi Americano
8 oz. club soda, chilled

In a blender, puree berries, ginger, sugar, and lime juice until smooth. Transfer to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add gin and Cocchi Americano. Shake well and pour through a fine strainer into four ice-filled Collins glasses. Top with chilled club soda.

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