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eat BLACKBERRIES

The blackberry season spans the end of summer and the beginning of autumn and their usage can be adapted accordingly. During August 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 evening. Later, we inure ourselves to the onset of autumn with deliciously comforting hot pies and puddings made by combining blackberries with the first apples of the season, to devastating effect.

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. Blackberries are more highly prized as a food in Britain and Northern Europe than anywhere else in the world.

BIOLOGY

Rubus fruticosus is the Latin name for the European blackberry, also known as bramble. Like the raspberry, it 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 coloniser of a habitat) as it can grow in poor soil and its prickly stems help protect 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 fibre. 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 flavour rarely rivalled 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, canalside paths and in wooded areas.

Alternatively try a farmers' market or a PYO farm (good blackberries aren't widely available in supermarkets as they're difficult to transport intact). Look for plump, dry, darkly-coloured 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 and it's a good idea to get a few bags in the freezer to use with apples in puddings throughout the winter. 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 adjust 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

ONLINE

• Blackberry and Oat Sundae

• Seared Loin of Venison with Blackberry, Apple and Gin Relish

• Blackberry and Lime Mousse

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