Seasons/Availability
Cranberries are available and enjoyed year round with a peak season October and November. Fresh Cranberries were at one time traditionally served only on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Current Facts
According to James J. Polashock of the Agricultural Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, scientists have found a cranberry species in Alaska that contains much more glucose-linked anthocyanins than the typical cranberry. This very small Alaskan cranberry is currently being cross bred in order to develop an even more nutritious commercial variety. Most anthocyanins are naturally bound to sugars. Anthocyanins bound to glucose are more bio-available, meaning the body can better process anthocyanins and as a result, nutritional benefits are increased. Common cranberries contain antioxidants called glactose and ravanose.
The new cranberry will have about forty to fifty percent more glucose-linked anthocyanins than regular cranberries.
Description/Taste
Plump and shiny red, the pretty little cranberry is encased in a firm waxy protective skin. This seriously tangy berry offers an extreme tart flavor. The mouth-puckering cranberry cannot be eaten raw.
Nutritional Value
One-half cup of fresh cranberries offers ten percent of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C and only 25 calories. Eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables lowers the chances of cancer. A recent study found that eating nine or ten daily servings of fruits and vegetables, combined with three servings of low-fat dairy products, were effective in lowering blood pressure.
Applications
This pungent little berry offers its tasty tang from savory dishes to baked goods. Its refreshing juice adds color and zest to a variety of beverages. Make bold sauces to serve with poultry and game entrées. Cranberries add their tart personality to cakes, bundt cakes, cookies, coffee cakes, quick breads, puddings, tarts, pies, cereals, snacks and muffins. This berry makes spunky jellies and preserves. Cranberry sauce loves to wake up angel food cake. Pair with the sweetness of apricots, apples or cherries to tame its tang. Add zip to relishes, sorbets and soufflés. Excellent keepers, refrigerated fresh cranberries keep several months and frozen cranberries keep up to one year. Note: Because the skins burst when heated, it is recommended to always cover cranberries during cooking.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
Pilgrims settling in New England quickly became familiar with the nutritious pretty little berries. A staple of Native Americans long before the arrival of settlers, cranberries were mixed into cakes of dried meat, fat and grains. These patties were called "pemmican" and provided nourishment through long harsh winters. In Europe, the cranberry is favored stewed and sweetened in puddings and tarts. Cranberries later became an important source of vitamin C for whalers. Massachusetts' Number One food crop is cranberries and joins Concord grapes and blueberries on the tiny list of native North American fruits. In October, Massachusetts celebrates the annual Massachusetts Cranberry Harvest Festival. The history, unique cultivation and the contribution cranberries have made to the local economy of Massachusetts are celebrated. Today Massachusetts has about 500 growers who produce more than forty-two per cent of the world's supply of cranberries. The Cranberry World Visitors Center located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, reports Americans eat 400 million pounds of cranberries each year. Eighty million pounds, making up twenty per cent of the cranberry crop, are eaten during Thanksgiving week alone. That includes 55 million one-pound cans of cranberry sauce and 12 million pounds of other homemade sauces.
Geography/History
Cranberries, along with blueberries, are native to North America and flourished in New England long before the Mayflower arrived. First named craneberry by the Pilgrims because the cute pink blossoms resembled the Sandhill crane, these tasty but tart berries were eventually called cranberries. Native Americans used the berries for medicinal purposes, as a dye and for food, sharing and teaching the European settlers the multiple benefits of this small red berry. Captain Henry Hall is credited for being the first to cultivate cranberries in 1810. Joining together, cranberry growers formed an association around 1871 and the cranberry industry literally took root. Growing into a huge commercial business, especially in the northern regions of North America, fresh and processed cranberries are available today. A tough wiry low-growing evergreen shrub, cranberries grow on the plant's trailing vines. Moisture-needy, cranberry vines require at least an inch of water a week to thrive. In most growing regions, the waterlogged ground where cranberries grow is called a bog or a marsh. Natural bogs and marshes, impermeable beds layered with gravel, sand, clay and peat, are the result of deposits glaciers left behind as they moved through certain areas of North America over ten thousand years ago. Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington State are leaders in cranberry production. Other states contributing to the supply include Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Maine and Delaware.
Featured Recipes
Recipes that include Fresh Cranberries. One
is easiest, three is harder.
