HOME

UK/Ireland
•Canada/USA

________________________________________________________________________

eat blackberries

We like to enjoy blackberries served simply with a little sugar and a lot of cream. They're also great muddled into a cold martini on a balmy summer evening. And then there are all those deliciously comforting hot pies and puddings...

HISTORY

Blackberries have grown across Asia, Europe and the Americas for tens of thousands of years. Archaeological records show that European inhabitants ate them as long ago as 8,000 BC.

During World War One, children in England were given time off school to collect blackberries for the production of juice that was sent to soldiers to help maintain health.

Today there are over 2,000 varieties found throughout the cooler regions of the world.

BIOLOGY

Like the raspberry, the blackberry is an aggregate fruit and relative of the rose. It is a highly adaptable and fast-growing shrub, found in hedgerows, woodland, meadows and wasteland. It is a good pioneer species (early colonizer of a habitat) as it can grow in poor soil and its prickly stems help protect to other plants' young shoots from being eaten.

NUTRITION

Blackberries are packed with antioxidants, including vitamin C and ellagic acid, which may provide protection against cancer and chronic disease. Their many tiny seeds make them a good source of fiber. They also contain salicylates, a group of analgesics that include the active substance in aspirin.

TIPS

BUYING
If possible, don't - wild berries have a depth of flavor rarely rivaled by cultivated varieties. Take a container and an umbrella (for hooking branches) and search out brambles near you, avoiding roadside or polluted spots. Even in cities you can find blackberries growing on scrubland and in wooded areas.

Alternatively try a farmers' market or farm shop (good blackberries aren't widely available in supermarkets as they're difficult to transport intact). Look for plump, dry, darkly-colored fruit that are neither too firm nor too squishy. Check the bottom of the container for stains from soft and mushy berries. Trust your sense of smell to help you gauge quality and ripeness.

STORING
Keep blackberries dry and cool and eat within a day or two. Blackberries freeze well: spread unwashed berries in a single layer on a tray and freeze until solid before transferring to air-tight bags or containers.

PREPARING
Wash thoroughly before use. Blackberries vary in sweetness so vary the amount of sugar you add to recipes according to taste.

OTHER STUFF

An extract from How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn:

O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live forever in the wideness of that rich moment.

PICK OF THE RECIPES

in season:

january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december

main regions:

Pacific Northwest

ONLINE

• Blackberry, Walnut and Apple Shortcake

• Blackberry and Lime Mousse

• Blackberry Crumble Pie

IN PRINT

• Pannacotta with Stewed Black Fruits
  The Complete Cookery Year

• Blackberry Water Ice
  Wild Food

• Blackberry, Apple and Almond Cobbler
  The River Cottage Year