Ingredient of the Week, June 30: Blackberries
Technically, blackberries are not a berry, but a small group of fruits called "drupelets," clustered together. A drupe is a small fleshy fruit around a hard pit, and a blackberry consists of a tight group of drupelets.The blackberry grows on a bush that thrives in all kinds of soil, and can be found on hillsides, under brush, or in ditches. It is a perennial, flowering every year in spring and summer with small white or pale pink flowers.
Fossilized remains of blackberries have been dated back thousands of years. This venerable fruit is used to make jam and jelly, wines, desserts, and the blackberry bush even produces a dark honey.
Blackberries were enjoyed by the ancient Greeks, who believed them to be a cure for diseases of the mouth and throat, as well as a preventative against many ailments, including gout.
The Native Americans were the first to introduce berries to their diets.
Blackberry tea was said to be a cure for dysentery during the Civil War. During outbreaks of dysentery, temporary truces were declared to allow both Union and Confederate soldiers to "go blackberrying" to forgage for blackberries to ward off the disease.
The blackberry continually tops lists of healthy fruits: it is high in fiber, vitamins like A, C and K, folic acid, and manganese, fiber and antioxidents which can prevent certian types of cancer. They are also very low in calories and sodium. 1 cup of blackberries has about 62 calories.
Select plump, firm, fully black berries. Unripe berries will not ripen once picked.
Researchers have known for quite some time that berries contain antioxidants which help to fight cancer causing free radicals. A study at the University of Ohio has found that blackberries are the most potent cancer fighting berries of them all, by nearly 40 percent!
DON'T wash the berries until you are ready to use them or freeze them. Washing makes them more prone to spoiling.
Even under ideal conditions blackberries will only keep for a week in a refrigerator, so for best flavor and texture, use them as soon as possible after purchase
You can easily freeze berries that you can not use right away - just wash, cut the hulls off and pop them into a ziplock bag, removing as much air as possible. The berries will keep for many months frozen without air
Frozen Berries can be kept in your freezer for up to 1 year.
Do you like blackberries? Do you eat then just the way they are or enjoy them in fruit salad or cooked in a cobbler? Have you ever gone blackberry picking?