WILD BLUEBERRY PIE IS THE BEST!

CONFESSION:

I’m a blueberry pie snob. It’s true. You will be too once you taste a blueberry pie made with those tiny powerhouses of flavor called wild blueberries. Sure, wild blueberries are tiny, but they have more flavor than the cultivated kind. When it comes to pie, wild blueberry pie is the best.

You might be asking what a “wild” blueberry is, especially if you don’t come from a northern state like Maine or maybe even Canada.

What is a “wild” blueberry anyway?

Well, first wild blueberries are not planted. They grow in wild and harsh conditions with very little soil. These tiny shrubs cling to the craggy hills of Maine and Eastern Canada . They were an important part of Native American diets, and remain important in the culinary cultures of the places they grow even today.

Wild blueberries are small compared to cultivated or “farmed” high bush blueberries. Wild blueberries have a thicker skin and that’s good because all the flavor is in the skin. Their skin is dark blue – almost ebony with a frosty-looking blush.

The Wabinaki Tribe were the first people to appreciate the flavor of wild blueberries but also, the ease of preserving them and their nutritional and medical properties. The little plants haven’t really changed at all for thousands of years.

I love to go in the morning among the dew-kissed rough shrubs and pick buckets of blueberries. The children’s book Blueberries for Sal is a classic.

WILD NUTRITION

One of the benefits of wild blueberries is that hundreds if not thousands of varieties will grow together in a field. This gives wild blueberry pie a complex flavor that cultivated blueberries just can’t match. It also increases the variety of nutrients in a serving or wild blueberries.

All blueberries are high in antioxidants, but wild blueberries have twice the antioxidant content compared to their cultivated kin.

Wild blueberries have less sugar than cultivated blueberries. (10 grasper cup compared to 15). And, some health experts believe eating wild blueberries can improve memory and mental function as well as mood.

The leaves make an excellent tea too. When the frosty fall air turns the blueberry leaves into a flaming red, the leaves are harvested for tea and tinctures. The leaves are a mild diuretic (makes you pee) and are good for high blood pressure. They are also used to help regulated blood sugar.

WILD BLUEBERRY PIE IS THE BEST!

And here is Mum’s own recipe: