We have four varieties of blueberries in our blueberry patch, Southmoon, O’Neal, Misty, and Jewel–which are supposed to ripen sequentially so that we could stagger our harvest over a longer season than if we just had one variety.
Blueberries are a relative newcomer to California as a commercial crop. However, they have been around for a long time here in the U.S. and in Western Europe. The Native Americans were eating them when Plymouth was settled by the Pilgrims, and it is believed they were on the menu for the first Thanksgiving. Native Americans ate them fresh, but they were also important as a dried food. Native Americans dried them and used them in puddings and “cakes” as well as powdering them and using them with meat, grains, and in soups. Wild plants were first cultivated as a commercial crop in 1920 in New Jersey, eventually leading to blueberries being the number 2 berry crop in the USA. Domesticated berries, by the way, can be four times larger than their wild relatives. Long an import from Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, and the Pacific Northwest, today we can enjoy them from local farms as blueberries are really taking off in California.
Blueberries are in the heather family, and the hybrid that works best in California seems to be the Southern Highbush type, which is a low- chill plant adapted to mild winters and warmer summers. California berries are firmer, crisper, and sweeter due to more sunshine. Fruiting times will vary by altitude and latitude, and around here the season runs mid-April through August. Apparently, one of the keys to getting bushes to produce more fruit is to grow different varieties. This helps the plants to produce more berries, and also ensures a steady supply over a longer season.
Almost all recipes I have seen use blueberries as a dessert or sweet. As always, I like to play with norms by taking items from the sweet side of the kitchen and using it in the savory side. I enjoy the deep flavor of blueberries and their subtle sweetness in stuffings and as a sauce for things like duck, or pork chops. I think mushrooms pair up wonderfully with blueberries as well, and so combine them in a couple dishes as well. They are also good in cole slaw! That’s not to say I don’t enjoy them tossed into my granola or pancakes, nor would I turn down blueberry scones or buckle, but I do want you to think of blueberries as a savory as well.
When selecting blueberries, know that they usually have a bloom on them that looks like frost. This is fine and actually helps protect the berry. Look for berries that have taut skin, are dark colored, and pull any that are damaged, mushy, or moldy. Size is not necessarily an indicator of flavor. I keep mine in the refrigerator in a plastic tub lined with paper towels on top and bottom with a tight fitting lid, and I try to eat them within 4 days. If you find yourself with a surfeit of blues, lay them on a flat pan and freeze them. Freezing them flat keeps them from forming big clumps and allows you to take out only what you need. Once frozen, transfer to a zipper bag and suck out the air before freezing. Do not wash the berries before freezing as this will make the berries mushy.
No two ways around it, blueberries are good for you; they are high in manganese (14%), B6 (8%), C (12%), K (18%), and have 2.4 grams of dietary fiber per cup. They are fairly low-cal as well with 84 calories per cup. They are lower on the glycemic index at 40, so this makes them better for you if you are watching your sugar intake. There are a lot of current studies showing them to be beneficial for anything from cognitive issues in older people to being good for cardio-vascular health and fighting cancer as they are loaded with anti-oxidants (They are near the top in anti-oxidant levels and activity).
So remember this, not only are blueberries really good, they are indeed good for you.
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