Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Shadblow in my kitchen


Well, the plant has so many common names...

I headed for The Noisest Park in the World, between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, to see if the Juneberry bushes there still had some berries. My Edible Brooklyn berry writing and cover picture last June may well have had something to do with the fact that the trees at Pier One, just south,  had clearly enjoyed some human attention.

On the way, however, having taken a slightly different route, I was surprised by an unexpected grove of Amelanchier trees, dripping with fruit. In its winding green depths I stumbled upon another forager, a lady with white hair and red lipstick - me, in 30 years time - and a sackful of purple fruit. She said she hadn't meant to stop but then realized that her umbrella bag would be perfect for holding berries. Such is the forager's thought process. Her bicycle was parked nearby. At least, I think it was her bicycle. It was orange. I didn't ask more questions, but should have. She, too, knew that Pier One berries had been Discovered.


I now have a decent haul, and pie is in our near future. These berries are riper than some I have collected and the very dark, near black fruit taste like cooked apples. I know that the seeds, when heated, will release their marzipan flavour. Perfect for dessert. The Frenchman almost wagged his tail when I mentioned pie. That will be for tonight.


If you come over, I'll save you a slice.

7 comments:

  1. Let's see...that would be long-haul to JFK, an A train, walk down to Henry...nope! I think Vince would have polished it off by the time I got there! ;-)
    (does look good, though.)

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  2. Total yum!

    What's you opinion of eating "wild" strawberries? safe? I seem to have a lot of vines growing. It might make more sense to eat them, than to weed them out ....

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  3. webb - are they Fragaria, genuine strawberries, or those invasive Waldsteinia, creepery things with yellow flowers? If the latter they are safe to eat but tasteless.

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  4. I clearly need to learn more. I love the adventure more than the pie.

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  5. Never seen that berry before but we love pie. If we weren't 4,000 miles from Don Estorbo's home, we'd be over in a jiffy. So, give Vince our portion.

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  6. I've NEVER heard of anyone having enough of these berries to eat, let a long make a pie with.. usually the birds devour them.. now I plan to plant an entire grove of them.. what a find!

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