Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Blue heaven
Color, flavor, health benefits hallmarks of tiny fruit starring in 7 recipes.
“You ought to have seen what I saw on my way To the village, through Mortenson’s pasture today:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green
And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!”
— From the poem of “Blueberries” by Robert Frost Blueberries, or star berries as they were once called because of the star-shaped calyx on their blossom ends, are one of only a handful of fruits indigenous to North America.
While hundreds of varieties exist, most consumers will only encounter three:
■Northern highbush blueberries, the most common kind available in supermarkets, are the result of Frederick Coville and Elizabeth White’s work in the early 20th-century in New Jersey. The pair crossbred several varieties of wild blueberries to create easy-to-pick berries that grow well in a range of conditions.
■Southern rabbit eye, a relative of the Northern highbush, which thrives in the South and gets its name from its rabbit-eye shaped calyx.
■Lowbush, also called wild blueberries, which are hardy and grow throughout Maine and eastern Canada. The plants, though cared for and harvested by farmers, are not planted in a traditional sense, but spread through underground runners. They grow 1 to 2 feet high and produce smaller, sweet-tangy fruit. Fresh wild blueberries are rarely, if ever, available this far south, but most supermarkets carry frozen wild blueberries.
Regardless the variety, they all have one thing in common — their intense color.
Frost said it best: “The blue’s but a mist from the breath of the wind” of the blueberry’s bluish-black skin and its frosted haze.
The color and its resulting staining capabilities is from high concentrations of anthocyanin, a water soluble pigment found in flowers and plants. Anthocyanin can be red, blue or purple depending on the acidity of the food. In the case of blueberries, although the skin of the berry is blue, when the anthocyanin is extracted from the fruit, it turns red. Anthocyanins are antioxidants and are believed to have anti- inflammatory properties and help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and cancer, according to Today’s Dietitian.
And that hazy coating? It’s technically known as bloom and acts as a natural sunscreen.
North America blueberries are in season from mid-April through September, peaking in June and July.
The berries pair well with a variety of foods, but are especially flavorful when combined with lemon, cinnamon, cream, oats, nutmeg and maple syrup; as well as other berries, melons and peaches and nectarines.
Cinnamon, a warm spice most of us associate with fall and winter, accentuates and deepens the blueberry flavor in this refreshing drink. A bit of vanilla adds another layer of flavor.
Adults may wish to turn this cooler into a cocktail by adding ½ ounce of St. Germain.