Mensam Mundum – World Table: Blackberries in our backyard
- Esther Oertel
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It’s blackberry season! The tumble of wild brambles along roadsides or in creeks offer them in abundance at this time of year.
I spent many a summer day in childhood with friends getting my fill of these sweet berries, with plenty of scratches on my arms from the prickly brambles to show for it. They were the perfect fruit in those days: free and prolific, and the adventurous trekking to find the perfect picking spot was a joyful experience.
What I didn’t realize then was just how much nutrition is packed into those little black jewels.
Blackberries are rich in vitamin C and contain more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables. They rank second in the effective prevention of oxidation in cells.
In addition, research shows that they inhibit the production and buildup of LDL cholesterol.
As significant as that is, it’s just the short list. Suffice it to say, they’re well worth eating for reasons beyond their flavor.
There are over 375 species of blackberries, and in the U.S. they’re most prevalent in eastern states and those that border the Pacific. They also grow abundantly in the British Isles and throughout Western Europe but are known through most of the temperate and tropical world.
In other words, they’re found on all continents except Antarctica.
Thankfully, our rural region is blessed to be full of them.
One Christmas, a favorite elderly neighbor gifted her friends and family with blackberry jam that she had made. Attached to the jar was a brief story she wrote about the mountain lion tracks she and her husband encountered in the creek bed where they were picking berries.
She ended with this line: “That’s me, risking my life for your morning jam on toast.” I still chuckle when I think of it.
Blackberries are an ancient fruit. The earliest known instance of their consumption by humans is from the naturally preserved 2,500-year-old bog body of a Danish woman. Forensic evidence showed remains of blackberries in her stomach contents.
They’ve not been cultivated long within the scope of human history, probably because of their abundance in the wild. It’s theorized that the advent of agriculture made these berries even more prevalent because of the clearing of forests.
As urbanization increased, wild blackberries became less available to city dwellers, thus fueling an effort from the late 1860s forward, especially in the U.S., to find strains of wild blackberries that would do well in the garden.
Our own Luther Burbank introduced one such variety to the U.S. from Europe: the Himalayan blackberry, which he named the Himalayan Giant for the size of its berries.
It is said that this invasive species has co-mingled with wild blackberries in the Pacific Coast region, so it’s possible that local blackberry enthusiasts have unknowingly consumed them along with native species.
Cultivated blackberries today are not that much different from their wild ancestors, except for the size of the berry, which is larger.
Blackberries ripen in stages on individual branches, so a favorite patch may be visited time and again throughout the season.
Blackberries are ripe when they’re at their darkest (a purple that’s so deep that it’s almost black). It’s said that a red blackberry is a green one, and many of us have been disappointed when we’ve tasted the sourness of blackberries in their red stage.
Once picked, they won’t last long, so use them quickly. They may mold at room temperature, so store them in the fridge, but not for more than three or four days.
If you have a prodigious harvest but aren’t prepared for copious canning or pie-making, it’ll be good news to know that fresh blackberries can be frozen.
To do so, gently cleanse them in cool water and remove any damaged berries or debris, then place berries in a single layer on a baking sheet and put in the freezer. Once berries are frozen, they may be stored in an air-tight freezer bag or other freezer-safe container.
I long to get my fingers stained purple from harvesting berries, and I plan to do it soon! If you have a favorite picking spot, now is the time to collect these healthy little gems, as they’re in the height of their season.
Enjoy the hunt and be sure to wear long sleeves and long pants to avoid those nasty scratches!
Today’s recipe is for blackberry syrup, inspired by the recent Blackberry COBBler Festival on Cobb Mountain, where blackberry sundaes were served.
The rich vanilla ice cream slathered with locally made blackberry syrup was ever-so-simple, yet mouth-wateringly delicious! I’m still thinking about it.
The syrup at the Festival was made by Jessica Pyska, chair of the “What’s Up on Cobb?” economic development committee that organized the event. She has generously shared the recipe with us for today’s column.
Pyska, also a candidate for Fifth District supervisor, is the garden teacher at Cobb Mountain Elementary School, and the blackberries used in her batch for the festival were from the garden there.
Jessica’s Blackberry Syrup
5 cups of blackberries
2 cups best quality apple juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
Mix berries, apple juice and sugar in a large pot and simmer for 1 hour, or desired consistency. Divide syrup in half and strain seeds out. Combine divided syrups and mix well. Allow to cool and refrigerate.
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.