4 ms·

American blueberries are the only ones I know. How would I, as resident of middle America, obtain these "bilberries"?

resolutebat 3y ago
It's sometimes called whortleberry or huckleberry in the US, although the latter in particular may refer to any of numerous berries. Frozen berries are exported from Europe though and can probably be found in specialist shops, the French in particular are fond of them (myrtilles). The texture is unfortunately lost but the taste does come through quite well.
- kzrdude 3y ago
  They are seasonal and picked wild so even in Sweden where the country is full of these berries, they are available fresh to buy for about a month per year. I think they are picked and exported frozen from Poland and Sweden among other places.
  - ajuc 3y ago
    In rural Poland it's a common seasonal activity to gather them in forests in July, you get whole family go to the forest for a few hours and gather enough to make 1 or 2 meals for the whole family (some people freeze them but it's not the same). Pierogi with "forest blueberries" is the quintessential summer food. Some people make a business out of it, gather them whole day and sell them. But I've never seen them in malls, just in street markets and people selling them along the roads in season. I think they don't keep long enough for markets - you have to eat them by the day after the gathering. We also have the "american blueberries", they are farmed industrially, and some people have them in their gardens (my grandparents for example). They are nice, but nowhere close to the real thing. There's also 2 different species of wild forest berries, but I'm not sure how they are officially called in English (my grandmother called them "borówki" and "łochinie", but even in Poland it's regional names, most people don't know what a "łochinia" is :) ).
    - kzrdude 3y ago
      When buying frozen blueberries (forest blueberries of course) in Norway however, they are often marked as picked in Poland, so there is someone making a business out of it.
    - jltsiren 3y ago
      "Łochinia" seems to be the bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum). They have a milder taste than bilberries. You sometimes find them in forests in Finland, but I've never seen anyone selling them.
      - kzrdude 3y ago
        These should be well known by nature people but I don't hear them discussed much. Today, because of this discussion, searching for some info, I found this interesting trivia observation someone blogged about: you can use bog bilberry to clean the color off your bilberry blue fingers. The explanation likely being that they are slightly acidic (it's hard to remove with just water and soap.) https://www.godt.no/aktuelt/i/eK1GOO/baeret-som-fjerner-blaabaerfarge https://www.godt.no/aktuelt/i/eK1GOO/baeret-som-fjerner-blaa... These berries have many names in scanidinavia too, but in norwegian I would know them as «skinntryte».
      - ajuc 3y ago
        There's "jagoda", "borówka" and "łochinia" and the mapping from names to fruits switch in every region :). My grandma called bog billberies - "borówka", and "łochinie" were smaller, elongated blueberries with slightly green insides. They were less sweet and more tart than regular "jagoda". I think this is what she called "łochinia", but it grew in the forest so I'm not sure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_caerulea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_caerulea
ajuc 3y ago
I don't know, they aren't even sold in Europe in markets AFAIK (we only get "American blueberries" here). They can't be domesticated, people gather them in forests.
- Kampfschnitzel 3y ago
  A
- Kampfschnitzel 3y ago
  When the berries are in season you can sometimes buy them at regular supermarkets or for sure at farmers markets. They are quite intensively harvested in countries like Finland, Sweden, Poland and Belarus. The frozen berries are then exported. For instance where I live (Austria) I can buy frozen Bilberries at a much cheaper price than regular Blueberries.
  - saiya-jin 3y ago
    Yes frozen can be found (in french speaking regions - myrtilles sauvages) and they are the right kind, meaning same as forest kind. But the ones I can get are quite sour. If you think this is the worst offender, compare real tiny forest strawberries with that bland stuff from grocery stores. 5% of the volume, 300% of the taste. Even good ripe homegrown ones pale in comparison. Had a hike last weekend and hit the right spot of altitude and their ripeness, got stuck for an hour just nibbling on them along forest roads.
    - neaden 3y ago
      Interesting, I have wild strawberries growing on my property and they are pretty tasteless in my experience, but I'm at a low altitude.
- Broken_Hippo 3y ago
  I'm in Europe (Norway), and I can get the small blueberries in the stores... at the right time of year. I haven't seen them yet this year, but I will soon. Folks go into the forests and harvest them, selling them to the stores. Similar story with cloudberries. They go for a fairly nice price. (They sell local produce in the major grocery stores here) The rest of the year, though, large blueberries are all that are on offer if you are buying fresh. IIRC, I can buy both smaller and larger blueberries if I buy frozen.
dugmartin 3y ago
You could take a drive up here to the Northeast USA in late Summer. Lots of low-bush blueberry farms let you pick your own using a berry rake. The flavor is usually pretty intense.

It's sometimes called whortleberry or huckleberry in the US, although the latter in particular may refer to any of numerous berries. Frozen berries are exported from Europe though and can probably be found in specialist shops, the French in particular are fond of them (myrtilles). The texture is unfortunately lost but the taste does come through quite well.

kzrdude 3y ago
They are seasonal and picked wild so even in Sweden where the country is full of these berries, they are available fresh to buy for about a month per year. I think they are picked and exported frozen from Poland and Sweden among other places.
- ajuc 3y ago
  In rural Poland it's a common seasonal activity to gather them in forests in July, you get whole family go to the forest for a few hours and gather enough to make 1 or 2 meals for the whole family (some people freeze them but it's not the same). Pierogi with "forest blueberries" is the quintessential summer food. Some people make a business out of it, gather them whole day and sell them. But I've never seen them in malls, just in street markets and people selling them along the roads in season. I think they don't keep long enough for markets - you have to eat them by the day after the gathering. We also have the "american blueberries", they are farmed industrially, and some people have them in their gardens (my grandparents for example). They are nice, but nowhere close to the real thing. There's also 2 different species of wild forest berries, but I'm not sure how they are officially called in English (my grandmother called them "borówki" and "łochinie", but even in Poland it's regional names, most people don't know what a "łochinia" is :) ).
  - kzrdude 3y ago
    When buying frozen blueberries (forest blueberries of course) in Norway however, they are often marked as picked in Poland, so there is someone making a business out of it.
  - jltsiren 3y ago
    "Łochinia" seems to be the bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum). They have a milder taste than bilberries. You sometimes find them in forests in Finland, but I've never seen anyone selling them.
    - kzrdude 3y ago
      These should be well known by nature people but I don't hear them discussed much. Today, because of this discussion, searching for some info, I found this interesting trivia observation someone blogged about: you can use bog bilberry to clean the color off your bilberry blue fingers. The explanation likely being that they are slightly acidic (it's hard to remove with just water and soap.) https://www.godt.no/aktuelt/i/eK1GOO/baeret-som-fjerner-blaabaerfarge https://www.godt.no/aktuelt/i/eK1GOO/baeret-som-fjerner-blaa... These berries have many names in scanidinavia too, but in norwegian I would know them as «skinntryte».
    - ajuc 3y ago
      There's "jagoda", "borówka" and "łochinia" and the mapping from names to fruits switch in every region :). My grandma called bog billberies - "borówka", and "łochinie" were smaller, elongated blueberries with slightly green insides. They were less sweet and more tart than regular "jagoda". I think this is what she called "łochinia", but it grew in the forest so I'm not sure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_caerulea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_caerulea

ajuc 3y ago

I don't know, they aren't even sold in Europe in markets AFAIK (we only get "American blueberries" here). They can't be domesticated, people gather them in forests.

Kampfschnitzel 3y ago
A
Kampfschnitzel 3y ago
When the berries are in season you can sometimes buy them at regular supermarkets or for sure at farmers markets. They are quite intensively harvested in countries like Finland, Sweden, Poland and Belarus. The frozen berries are then exported. For instance where I live (Austria) I can buy frozen Bilberries at a much cheaper price than regular Blueberries.
- saiya-jin 3y ago
  Yes frozen can be found (in french speaking regions - myrtilles sauvages) and they are the right kind, meaning same as forest kind. But the ones I can get are quite sour. If you think this is the worst offender, compare real tiny forest strawberries with that bland stuff from grocery stores. 5% of the volume, 300% of the taste. Even good ripe homegrown ones pale in comparison. Had a hike last weekend and hit the right spot of altitude and their ripeness, got stuck for an hour just nibbling on them along forest roads.
  - neaden 3y ago
    Interesting, I have wild strawberries growing on my property and they are pretty tasteless in my experience, but I'm at a low altitude.
Broken_Hippo 3y ago
I'm in Europe (Norway), and I can get the small blueberries in the stores... at the right time of year. I haven't seen them yet this year, but I will soon. Folks go into the forests and harvest them, selling them to the stores. Similar story with cloudberries. They go for a fairly nice price. (They sell local produce in the major grocery stores here) The rest of the year, though, large blueberries are all that are on offer if you are buying fresh. IIRC, I can buy both smaller and larger blueberries if I buy frozen.

dugmartin 3y ago

You could take a drive up here to the Northeast USA in late Summer. Lots of low-bush blueberry farms let you pick your own using a berry rake. The flavor is usually pretty intense.