North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

Jim,

If you search list archives, you'll find previous discussions on growing cloudberries. I've rarely seen the plants for sale, can't remember which catalog.  Some of your (potential) customers attach value to cloudberry jam well beyond the flavor of the fresh fruit. Can you locate any fresh-frozen fruit?

Cloudberries are an example of a food whose cultural value goes beyond fresh taste alone, somewhat similar to cranberries in this country.  While a summer exchange student in Norway, my host family introduced me to local foods, including couldberries, with a history of how and when these are gathered, preserved, then enjoyed during the year.  My host mother, a child during WWII, gathered these and other fruits during what were fun outings in the woods for her, but essential food gathering for families during and after the war.  So while hiking that summer, when I found and ate cloudberries the fruit was not outstanding fresh, but there was more to finding and eating this wild fruit than taste alone.  Certain traditional foods still have significant emotional appeal, even if the connections of family, culture or place are muddled or lost.

 

While at a fruit meeting last summer, I bumped into a Finnish grad school acquaintance.  In her work, she considered cloudberries.  When I mentioned my connection, she produced a jar of cloudberry jam for me.  Sharing this with my family was a gateway to share that summer with them, and a bit of Scandinavian culture. 

 

Richard Moyer

East Tennessee

 

> Re: Cloudberry Question (Ginda Fisher)
>  
> I bought some in Finland.  They look sort of neat - like a large, soft,
> yellow raspberry.  I didn't care for the flavor, nor did my husband or
> children.  Bland, slightly sweet, an odd edge to it, mushy texture.
>
> Ginda
>
> On Jan 18, 2006, at 11:10 AM, 
> bluestem_farm@juno.com wrote:
>
> > I've seen it and eaten it in the wild.  It grows in
> > VERY wet boggy places; I've never planted it and tried to grow it.
> > I thought it tasted rather wretched, although people who grew up on it
> > claimed to love it.
> > Muffy Barrett
> >
> > -- Jim Fruth  wrote:
> >     Does anyone raise Cloudberry, Rubus Chamaemorus?
> > --
> >
> > Jim Fruth
> > Brambleberry Farm
> > Pequot Lakes, MN
> > www.bberryfarm.com
> > Jams, Jellies and Syrups
> >
> >