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Food price issues for low incomes; BC Day, blackberries and zucchini

In Our Food, our Future last week, the topic was the impact of high food prices on those with less disposable income, where the proportion of monthly income spent on food is escalating with possibly dangerous results. Some interesting issues raised. The rise in obesity among poor people, because fatty, sugary foods are cheaper than better quality ones. The lack of practical food skills (selection, preparation) among those who need them most: young, pregnant or breastfeeding women, single parents, students. The difficulty of feeding ever-hungry teens on a small budget. And the economic risk of experimenting with cooking or dietary change: if you are on a very tight food budget, with children to feed, monotony is a big problem, because you must stick to foods with a long shelf life (fatty, sugary, highly-processed) that you know how to portion and prepare, and that your family will eat.

It’s been party time in Victoria. Last weekend was BC Day, and the crowds were out in the inner harbour,

the Snowbirds did an impressive flyby.

I didn’t stay for the evening’s open-air entertainment which included Burton Cummings, Feist and Sarah McLachlan, because I had food to think about.

The Himalayan blackberries are in season now, though I suspect people are not picking them because there’s a rumour about (repeated to me with my berry pail at every turning) that they aren’t ripe until the end of August. Ok, so believe that if you wish. I believe with mine eyes and mine palate and mine berry bucket.

During an irresponsible visit to some farm markets, I bought loganberries and giant boysenberries, which for scientific purposes I compared in my berry line-up, in order of size, with a Himalayan and a native blackberry.

Then, because my apples are ripe and my berry pail full, I made pie. Rather good with Udder Guy’s strawberry ice cream.

And for those who say to me “but don’t you get tired of zucchini?” I can only laugh sadly and smugly. There’s soup to be made, chocolate-zucchini cake of course, but also zucchini parmigiana as earlier mentioned, and this wonderful thing which I sampled last April (paired with smoked provolone) at the wonderful La Croce di Malta in Parma. I thought the proprietor was calling it zucchini escabeche, but in fact she was saying Zucchini alla Scapece,

which is a superb Italian cousin; by her account from Sicily. It’s a wonderful substance, featuring fresh mint, garlic and vinegar and – best of all for dinner party purposes – a good long sit on the kitchen counter. I read that its combination of sour and sweet flavour signals its origins in Spanish cuisine, and its roots in Spanish-ruled parts of the country.

Saskatoons to sorrel

The native blackberries are nearly – but not quite done now, and a few premature Himalayans are peeking out on the roadsides, but not enough to pick yet. I found a precious few saskatoons when I was picking the other day: my dear Saskatchewan friends will be interested to know that they are native to this part of the world as well as theirs. I didn’t find enough to do anything more than mix them with other stuff, but still. Exciting to the berry-fingered.

Last week at Haliburton Farm we were pulling and cleaning garlic,

getting it ready to hang.

Their veggie stand always looks enticing; love those little round zucchini.

I made an exceptionally good zucchini parmigiana the other night, which was just like melanzane parmigiana only different in one fairly obvious way. I got my version from Jane Grigson’s excellent Vegetable Book which is funny and encyclopaedic and fun to read cover to cover.

This week we were pulling weeds, and I encountered a lot of red sorrel,

which made me think of sorrel soup, which is an excellent thing as you can eat it hot or cold. I brought a couple of hefty bags of these lemony weeds home with me, cleaned as much as I had patience for, and used this recipe, without the spinach. I didn’t cook the sorrel, just dumped it all into the blender with the broth, onions (had no leeks) and potatoes, and the heat cooked it as it landed. It is a good idea to sieve it though as some of it is kind of stringy.

And I ate it with a dollop of Greek yogurt; I have found a passable if not authentic version of this in Victoria which does ok for purposes like this and for making tzadziki to eat with another excellent zucchini dish, Delia’s version of kolokithokeftedes (Κολοκυθοκεφτέδες).

Berries ‘n Cherries

I think while the fruit’s still with us, we should go on celebrating National Cherry Day in England! Read all about it at CherryBites, or join the CherryAid group on Facebook.

Over here, we too love cherries. Some of us might be lucky enough to be in Bruno for some sour cherries ‘n poetry… But if you can’t make that, how about heading to bing country in Kelowna for their festival?

A happy discovery on my walk the other day: it’s native (Rubus ursinus) blackberry season and I found a bowlful’s worth in a secret location.

Smaller, sweeter and much less numerous than the Himalayan blackberries, which have overrun the Island, they pack an aromatic punch and flavour. After gorging on them (well paired with Udder Guy’s vanilla bean ice cream)

I’ve frozen a precious handful to wait for my Yellow Transparent crop to ripen, which won’t be long now. That will be one fine pie.

The Himalayans are still feeding the bees, and won’t be ready till later in August from the looks of things.