FoodFood InformationFruitBerries
The cranberry, like the blackberry, is a member of the heath family.
Native to North America, wild cranberries, as well as wild blackberries,
blueberries, and Concord grapes-flourished in the area that we now know
as New England long before anyone came over on the Mayflower.
Today, growing cranberries is a big, big business. They no longer grow wild
but are cultivated by hundreds of individual farmers on privately held land.
Today's cranberries are mechanically planted, irrigated, weeded, sprayed,
and harvested. Even the pollenization is performed by bees that are rented.
The annual crop exceeds 200 million pounds.
The major growing areas for cranberries are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin,
Oregon, and Washington State. The first fresh cranberries arrive in market
early in October and the season usually winds up by the end of the year.
As yet no fresh cranberries are brought in from the Southern Hemisphere.
There are four major varieties of cranberries. The Early Blacks and
the Late Howes are grown in Massachusetts and New Jersey. The Searles
are produced in Wisconsin, and the McFarlens, in the Pacific Northwest.
All four varieties have fine color and excellent flavor. The Early Blacks
are somewhat smaller in size and darker than the other varieties. While
they have a slightly better flavor, they are not nearly as firm and hardy.
The Early Blacks are also fairly perishable and have a rather short shelf
life. They don't store well, even under refrigeration. However, the later
varieties will last for several weeks in a refrigerator.
Cranberry sauce is an all-American favorite but has never quite caught on
in Europe. We used to serve cranberry sauce only on Thanksgiving and Christmas,
along with the traditional holiday turkey. Today it is served year-round
as a garnish to other poultry and meat dishes. Very few people bother making
fresh cranberry sauce at home, but substitute the sauce that comes in cans.
Canned cranberry sauce is a fine product, but it doesn't quite match the
color and the flavor of fresh sauce.
Another easily prepared taste treat is homemade fresh orange-cranberry relish.
All you have to do is to grind up raw cranberries with a couple of fresh
California oranges (peel and all) and sweeten to taste. The end product
is delicious and inexpensive. Raw cranberries make an excellent substitute
for raisins in baking breads, muffins, and cakes.
Nearly all of the huge annual cranberry crop is used either to make bottled
cranberry juice cocktail or canned cranberry sauce. Only about 10 percent
of the crop is sold as a fresh fruit.
While there are hundreds of farmers who grow cranberries for a livelihood,
nearly all of the crop is marketed or processed by a single cooperative
organization, the Ocean Spray Growers, Inc., of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Ocean Spray, one of the largest, and probably the most successful, agricultural
co-ops in the nation, has very successfully marketed the cranberry juice
cocktail. Thanks to the popularity of cranberry juice, there is seldom,
if ever, an oversupply of fresh cranberries.
In the past twenty years the retail price of fresh cranberries has almost
tripled while the net weight of a package has been cut from sixteen to twelve
ounces. However, even at the higher prices fresh cranberries are still worth
buying.
When shopping for cranberries, look for those that are dry, plump, firm,
and colorful. If the berries are wrinkled, soft, wet, or go "squoosh"
when you apply gentle pressure, they are overripe and should not be purchased.
Fresh cranberries are in market only about three months of the year but
can be available year-round since they freeze beautifully. Just put the
package into a freezer bag and freeze. Don't wait until the tail end of
the season to freeze the cranberries. Freeze them just around Thanksgiving,
when they are at the peak of season; there will be less chance of getting
overripe cranberries.
WHEN TO BUY: At peak October and November
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Firm, dry, dark berries HOW TO STORE: Refrigerate immediately
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