Food & Drink Update: Cranberry cure

As UK supermarkets, for some reason observing American Thanksgiving, fill up with cranberries and cranberry juice, British shoppers may be forgiven for wondering what to do with them. After tasting them, one might well conclude: nothing.

However, two rather more constructive solutions present themselves. Cooked with orange juice, brown sugar and whisky, the fresh or frozen berries make a pleasingly tart game jelly. And cranberry juice, if not everyone's tipple, is a reliable and quick remedy for cystitis. Symptoms should abate within 20 minutes of drinking several glasses. Its extreme alkalinity is the key, reducing acidity in the system and allowing the body a good chance of healing itself naturally.