Posted on: Wednesday, August 4, 2004
America cultivates blueberry bonanza
| • | Flavorful fruit sauce can maximize meats |
By Johnathan L. Wright
Reno Gazette-Journal
From small home farms to the giant blueberry cooperatives of Michigan to growers in New Jersey's farm region, the United States is in the midst of a blueberry boom. The United States accounts for almost 90 percent of the world's blueberry production. Last year, Americans consumed more than 430 million pounds of blueberries, either wild or cultivated, a total that worked out to more than a pound per person.
Blueberries are packed with antioxidants, which help fight the effects of free radicals, those unstable oxygen molecules that contribute to heart disease and other age-related diseases. Plus, according to the American Dietetic Association, eating blueberries may improve short-term memory, may prevent urinary tract infection and may help reduce the loss of motor and cognitive skill that comes with age.
Summer is the height of the North American blueberry season, and midsummer is when they are at their inkiest and juiciest, their best price and widest availability. If you don't opt for fresh blueberries, the freezer case features bags of good quality, individually quick frozen berries. Dried berries, good for baking, also abound.
Along with cranberries and Concord grapes, blueberries are the only fruit native to North America. Two types of blueberries flourish here. Lowbush blueberries, also called wild berries, grow to about a foot in height and thrive in Maine and eastern Canada. They're harvested with a rake, about the size of a pea and prized by bakers for their sturdiness. Fresh lowbush blueberries are rarely available outside their growth area.
Gannett News Service Dried blueberries are suited to smaller pastries that larger berries might crowd, or to thick batters in which fresh or frozen blueberries might burst. Think mini-muffins or bagel batter. For scones, which also are made from thick batter, either dried or frozen blueberries are tough enough.
For regular muffins, cakes and other lighter batters, fresh or frozen blueberries are the way to go.
Blueberry muffins should be one-third fruit, or about one pound of fruit for every two pounds of batter. Add the blueberries last, just before the batter is poured into the muffin tins, and fold gently, with just a few strokes, so the batter doesn't turn blue.
For pancakes, use only fresh blueberries, but don't mix them in. Sprinkle them onto the circles of batter once they've been poured onto the grill.
More ideas: blueberry Sangria, iced tea graced with blueberry juice or chopped fresh peaches and blueberries tossed with a jab of crystallized ginger.
Combining savory and sweet ingredients is one of food's hottest trends. The trend-driving Japanese also are batty for blueberries. In the past decade, manufacturers have introduced everything from blueberry pizza to squeeze packets of blueberry sandwich sauce, from blueberry pills taken to improve eyesight to blueberry wagashi, the term for small, traditional Japanese sweets.
"We go to Japan to try out products to present to domestic producers," says Mark Villata, executive director of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. "We've seen blueberry curry in Japan. The first drinkable yogurts with blueberries we saw in Japan. With curry, we kind of took that idea and did some prototypes here in the states with blueberry mustard and blueberry barbecue sauces. We're hoping eventually some manufacturers will pick that up and it will catch on."
In addition to taste and tradition, what's behind the blueberry binge? Health benefits.
Highbush or cultivated blueberry bushes can reach 15 feet. They are harvested manually or mechanically, their fruit is about the size of a penny and from them come most of the blueberries available in the supermarket. In the winter, highbush blueberries from New Zealand are sold at a premium.
Midsummer is when blueberries are at their juiciest, their best prices and widest availability.
