When I was a kid, between the ages of 5 and 12, my family owned a small cabin on a lake in northern Wisconsin. The lake was quite large and our cabin was on a very desolate section with no other human dwellings for several miles around. We had quarter mile dirt road that led off the main road which was also dirt. This was rugged country, make no mistake. Once at the cabin we took boats to go everywhere around the lake including to do some limited grocery shopping. Our boats were simple canoes and row boats with small outboard gasoline motors. Life on my summer vacation was basic to say the least.
We owned 48 acres surrounding the cabin and I would spend most days exploring this expanse, or boating to other areas to explore. Although fishing was a large part of our activities we also had a small vegetable garden and did a considerable amount of foraging for wild berries which my grandmother would dutifully turn into pies for the family desserts. My sisters and I would pick buckets of these berries when they were at their ripened peak and I would imagine bears gorging themselves in decadent delight out here in the middle of nowhere. It was at this time that I developed an appreciation for how Nature provided these treats way up here in the pine forests.
As an adult I learned that nearly everywhere you go on the planet, some small edible berries of one variety or another, chalk full of vitamins, anti-oxidants and phytochemicals grew on some tree, bush or ground cover. There were the familiar berries of the temperate zone, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries berries; those of the West and of the mountains like currants, rose hips and gogi berries; and berries of the tropics like the poha berries I would pick daily when I lived in Hawaii. These were the power packed survival substances nature provided to allow life to exist in the remotest parts of the world.
They were also the main source of vitamin C for primitive man before he had discovered agriculture, allowing him to venture out of the cradle of the equatorial tropics into harsher lands to the north and south. To think that these tiny substances once allowed mankind to roam the frigid lands on the glacial edge during the time of the ice ages is mind expanding. The hunting and fishing of animals sustained life but it was the berries that kept man healthy. Most people today know that life as a sailor out to sea for weeks on end must have a source of vitamin C on board to prevent scurvy. Many an explorer seeking new lands in the arctic regions died from this disease before starvation, accident or hypothermia ever had a chance to kill him. The nutrients contained in these small fruits are essential to human survival.
Today, one can readily find an assortment of berries in the produce isle or frozen case of your grocery and health food stores. Unfortunately, conventionally grown berries can contain high levels of pesticides so I advise consuming the organically grown berries. Frozen berries are a good buy as you usually get more for your money, almost no spoiled berries and they keep longer especially if you are planning to use them in a pie, tart or smoothie. Fresh berries are better to eat a handful now and then, which is what I normally do to adjust my system a couple to three times a day. The great thing about berries is that they can be eaten fresh like candy or become a part of something more elaborate.
Unlike succulent fresh or dried sweet fruit, berries are actually low in sugars with higher values of fiber and special nutritive compounds. The size and relative scarcity in nature models the optimum balance of these sorts of nutrients in the human body. Too much juicy fruit is really not that good for us. Foods with high sugar contents create havoc in the body over the course of time and should be eaten sparingly. Unfortunately, I see piles upon piles of such fruit in the produce sections of grocery stores knowing full well that only a small percentage will ever actually be sold. That most of this bounty will go to waste because people just don’t consume that much, and nor should they.
The following is a great little recipe for the summer berry season. These little tarts make excellent individual desserts that everyone will appreciate.
Wild Berry Tart with Raspberry Sorbet
Sorbet
¼ cup silken tofu
½ cup cranberry raspberry juice
1 tsp raw sugar
3 tsp agar
1 tsp methycellulose powder*
¼ cup frozen raspberries
Filling
½ cup cranberry raspberry juice
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ cup fresh blueberries
Crust
¼ cup fresh blackberries
¼ cup frozen raspberries
4 graham crackers
3 Tbsp margarine
2 Tbsp cold water
Directions
Make the sorbet and filling reduction sauce at the same time starting with separate sauce pots. In one pot add the cranberry/raspberry juice with the cornstarch and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and ‘evaporate’ the juice to half its original volume, remove from heat and cool down.
In the other pot add the juice and agar, bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and chill down in freezer until slushy. When sufficiently partially frozen (about 20 minutes later) transfer to a food processor. Add the other sorbet ingredients to the food processor and blend well. Scrape the mixture from the processor to a bowl and put bowl back in the freezer for another 20 minutes. After this time take the sorbet out of the freezer and blend again in the processor or mixer. Now the sorbet is light and aerated and ready to use. Store in the freezer until you are ready to serve it.
Next, add the crust ingredients to the food processor and pulse until crumbly. Remove this mixture and press a small ball of it into each tiny tart tin. Use another empty tin to shape the crust evenly inside the first tin.
Now take the fresh berries (also frozen raspberries) and mix them well with the cooled reduction sauce which is now a stiff syrup. Spoon some of the berry mixture into each tin with crust and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow tarts to cool to room temperature.
When ready to serve, put the frozen sorbet into a pastry bag with a wide mouthed decorator tip and pipe a dollop of sorbet on each tart. Serve immediately. Recipe makes about 6 tarts.
*Methylcellulose powder is a natural product made from the cellulose of plants. It is optional here, what it does is make for a better finished product when whipping cold vegan substances that you want to become airy like eggwhites. Buy at http://www.willpowder.com/
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