Foragers' Diary - Part Three

I was delighted this week to pick the first blackberries of the year.  Not a huge amount yet but this is only the start.  Blackberries are a staple crop of the country larder.  If you can stand a few scratches and don’t mind risking purple stains on your best T shirt, they will be in season now until October in hedgerows all over the country. Commercially grown varieties are available but for me nothing tastes as good as the wild fruit.

By tradition in Britain, blackberries should not be gathered after Old Michaelmas Day on October 11.  A profusion of legends connect the bushes with the Devil on that day, who is said variously to curse them, spit on them, or even urinate on them.  In reality as the autumn weather becomes damper and cooler the fruit often become contaminated with moulds which look unpleasant and can be mildly toxic.  There's a lot of picking to be done before then though.

Blackberries are delicious in pies or puddings, and since they are normally available in large quantities I'm looking forward to making jam or perhaps a seedless jelly, to store some of that late summer sunshine for the winter.

They are also extremely good for you; they are every bit as nutritious as the much vaunted super food blueberries, which are not native to Europe but just have better PR.  Blackberries, available right outside your back door, are rich in vitamins A, C and K.  They contain significant amounts of folic acid, Omega 3 and Omega 6, and the essential mineral, manganese.  They are a rich source of antioxidants believed by many to be preventatives in cardio vascular disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and even cancer.

Entirely fortuitously, when I returned home with my harvest, a neighbour had very kindly given us a bag of Bramley cooking apples. 

Bramleys are a fine old English variety which are too sour to eat raw but perfect for cooking.  That’s because they have a higher acidity level and lower sugar content than dessert apples.  All apples tend to lose flavour when cooked, so the Bramley retains a stronger, tangier tasting apple after cooking.  Also, while some dessert apples can go a bit rubbery when cooked, Bramleys turn into a characteristic golden fluffiness which melts in the mouth.

I’m sure most people know that blackberry and apple makes a great combination, the tartness of the apple contrasting nicely with the sweetness of the blackberries.  There was nothing to be done but to make another crumble.