SC - Cold Soup/Vegetables?

[Siegfried Heydrich]

It has been a long time since I had crowberry jam.  They do grow in Alaska
and the quick ref refers to them as being in the Northern Hemisphere, which
usually means they are also found in Europe and Asia.  The formal name is
Empetrum nigrum.

Bilberry is a synonym for blueberry and refers to edible members of the
genus Vaccinium.  Presumably, blueberry refers to V. cerymbosum (the
high-bush blueberry) in the U.S. and V. myrtillus in Eurasia.  The low-bush
blueberry is identified as V. augustfolium but no range is given.  These
species are also referred to as whortleberries.

Huckleberries are North American relatives of the blueberry in the genus
Gaylussacia.  The common huckleberry is G. baccata.  

The quick ref suggests that whortleberry and huckleberry are derivations of
the term hurtleberry, which is now on my list of words to look up in the
OED.

Bear

> Your bilberries sound similar to what we in Montana refer to as
> "huckleberries."  They are very tart and flavorful, compared 
> to those boring old
> blueberries, and one of the best things ever grown on the 
> face of the earth,
> AFAIC.  As far as I know, they still grow only in the wild, 
> and increasing
> commercialization is putting some stress on the annual 
> "crop," which is also a
> main food for our resident bears.
> --Maire, who admits to being partial....<g>
> 
> Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir wrote:
> <snippage>
> 
> > >Could you comment on the flavour and appearance of bilberries and
> > >crowberries? Ever picked them wild? What type of ground 
> and climate do
> > >they prefer?
> >
> > They prefer cool climates; crowberries are rare south of
> > (Northern)Scandinavia but I understand they grow abundantly 
> in Alaska and
> > Canada. They are small, pitch black and shiny, slightly 
> tart and probably do
> > not taste wonderful to people used to a wide variety of 
> berries and fruit.
> > Bilberries are dark blue, sometimes almost black, somewhat 
> smaller than
> > American blueberries, and not very dissimilar in flavor 
> (some will tell you
> > they are inferior to blueberries, others, including me, 
> hold a different
> > opinion). They grow in Northern Europe, in Scotland and 
> Ireland, and in New
> > England and perhaps other northerly regions as well; they 
> are often called
> > whortleberries in America. The bog bilberry is fairly similar to the
> > bilberry but has the color of a blueberry. The difference 
> in taste is
> > reflected in the Icelandic names; bog bilberry is bláber 
> (blueberry),
> > bilberry is aðalbláber (main blueberry).
> >
> > Nanna