Saturday, July 28, 2007

Huckleberries are here!


huckleberry 001
Originally uploaded by knitterj
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for these every week, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the huckleberry. These little buggers are so easy to miss, because it's almost like some secret that no one really wants to talk about. I guess it's a good thing, though, because they are apparently hard to come by - they only grow wild and are hard to harvest.

We just happened to be at City Market today, passing by to grab a sandwich for lunch, when I saw what I thought was the prized huckleberry. Since I only have last summer's memory of them to go by, I wasn't sure if they were indeed them. There was no sign to tell me, just a few pint-boxes of shiny dark berries in the produce isle. We had to ask the guy working there if they were indeed huckleberries, and when he said 'yes' I darted right over to grab one as if they were going to sell out instantly after it became known. Not a bad price either, $3.99/pint. I think last year at the Portland Farmer's Market we paid $8.00 for a bag, which I think was a pint.

If you've never had huckleberries, the closest description I can give is that they're like a cross between a blueberry and a cranberry, though some of them can taste raisin-y. We get a lot of berries here in the NW, and I just love following them through the season. It's random stuff like the huckleberry that make a crazed foodie like me happy to live where I do.