Move over yuzu – there’s another tart, colourful ingredient lighting up menus across the country. Sea buckthorn, a tiny orange berry foraged from coastal shrubs, is becoming a sustainable secret weapon for chefs looking to add a vibrant, punchy twist to their dishes.
“It’s such a unique flavour to the UK,” Joe Laker, head chef at Counter 71 in Shoreditch, tells Broadsheet. “Raw and unsweetened, it has a strong acidity that’s almost unpalatable, but as soon as you add sugar it bursts with mango- and passionfruit-style sweetness.” At the time of writing, he’s serving a sea buckthorn ice-cream with apricot and marshmallow.
Sea buckthorn thrives in coastal regions thanks to its love of sandy, well-drained soils and salt-laced winds. It’s hardy, antioxidant-rich and packed with vitamin C – but for chefs it’s the flavour that’s irresistible: acidic, bright and weirdly addictive.
That’s why George Pell, owner of The Suffolk in the coastal town of Aldeburgh, has had a sea buckthorn Margarita on the menu since he opened the pub in 2023. “It’s punchy, tart and completely unique,” he tells Broadsheet. “The berries grow wild along the Suffolk coast, not far from the restaurant, so it felt right to build something around them.”
The vivid berry is finding its way onto menus across the capital, too. At Kol, Santiago Lastra serves a langoustine taco with smoked chilli and sea buckthorn; Adam Handling’s Eve Bar in Covent Garden has a sea buckthorn tart on its snack menu; and Anglothai’s changing menu has been known to feature its signature Carlingford oysters in a Thai-style nam jim sauce made with fermented chillies, honey and sea buckthorn berries.
In Sheffield, chef Luke French of Joro pairs the berry with yuzu kosho in a beurre blanc-style sauce with chalk stream trout, while in North Yorkshire Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall serves lobster with a sea buckthorn-spiked hollandaise, which he says cuts through the richness of the dish.
Meanwhile, at Moor Hall in Lancashire, Mark Birchall uses the berry in one of his signature dishes, Paris Market Carrots, with Doddington cheese, chrysanthemum and sea buckthorn. “It works really well due to the fruity, citrusy, tart and sour notes it brings, which complement the savoury and umami flavours of the Doddington cheese,” he says.
Bartenders are equally enamoured. At Timberyard in Edinburgh, head of beverage Anna Šebelová uses sea buckthorn as a vibrant citrus substitute. “We use it a lot in cocktails – a Gimlet, a Sour, even Margaritas,” she tells Broadsheet. “It works brilliantly in softs, too: a sea buckthorn cordial topped with soda, or mixed into juices for acidity.”
