Wild and wonderful
This is the right season for picking these delicious and versatile berries
Blackberries, or brambles, have an effective defense mechanism: the thorny branches prevent all but the boldest and those armoured with protective clothing to advance into a good patch. The best I can do is to pick from the edge of the patch, and fortunately, that’s enough this year.
If you are a wild food aficionado, you already know that they are at their peak now, and the picking is good.
Blackberries are, I have read, the largest of the wild berries, and you can fill a box quickly. The ripe ones detach from the hull when picked; if the hull stays attached when you pick them, you’ll know they’re a little immature.
The seeds of blackberries are rather large, giving them a nice crunch. Those who don’t appreciate the crunch may prefer to remove the seeds by pureeing the fresh fruit or making jelly with them. Ripe blackberries contain a moderate amount of
natural pectin for making jelly, which is often supplemented by either combining the berries with apples, which are high in pectin or by using a recipe containing commercial pectin.
I like to eat them fresh for breakfast, often by combining blackberries and whatever other fresh fruit I have on hand, such as cantaloupe and blueberries, to make fruit salad to eat with a scoop of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. With a slice of raisin toast on the side, it’s a perfect way to start a latesummer morning.
Like any berries, blackberries are good for making pies, and according to Barron’s “Food Lover’s Companion” (Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., New
York, 2007), apples and blackberries make a traditional pie filling pair in Britain.
Jacques L. Rolland says, in “The Cook’s Essential Kitchen Dictionary”, (Robert Rose Inc., Toronto, 2014), that blackberries have also been used since the 1830s, in a moulded dessert called Blackberry Flummery, made by thickening sweetened juice extracted from cooked or canned blackberries, chilling, and serving with plain or whipped cream.
The dark purple, almost black colour of blackberries turns a rich shade of red-purple when the fruit is cooked. Last week I made a cobbler using a mix of black and dark blue fruits
— blackberries, lowbush and thighbush blueberries, black currants and chums — and the sauce they formed was a gorgeous deep red.
For the topping, I made a soft buttermilk biscuit mixture, substituting coconut oil for the butter that I’d usually use. The sweet nutty flavour from the coconut oil played well with the tart tastes of the berries. The only thing I’d change would be to add a thickening agent to the fruit.
After referring to Joanie Sutton’s recipe for Blackberry Cobbler in “Joanie’s Country Cookbook, Volume 2” (Acorn Press, Charlottetown, 2003), I would add 15 mL (1 tbsp) of tapioca to 1.5 L (6 cups) of fruit to make it less runny.
Portioning desserts individually in little canning jars makes for an interesting presentation. You can top these easy-to-make little cheesecakes with any number of fruits, including blackberries or a combination.