Re: Blueberries -- fresh vs frozen

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025, dsi1 wrote:

On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:19:38 +0000, Dave Smith wrote:
>

On 2025-03-19 12:10 p.m., Ed P wrote:

Every couple of weeks I make a few batches of blueberry pancakes.  The
store almost always has blueberries and the source varies throughout the
year.  Maine and Michigan are the best, Florida and Mexico are good,
Peru gets us through the winter.
 Past couple of weeks, the berries did not look great for the price so,
why not try frozen?  I did this morning.
 They were a little bigger, the size is very consistent, clean, ready to
use.  The texture though, not as good as they look.  I guess the
freezing breaks down the inner parts and it lacks density.  They would
look good in a fruit salad, but lack flavor and texture for eating.
Nope, won't use frozen again.

  My wife buys frozen blueberries all the time but she gets the small wild
ones. I have bought fresh but she doesn't like the larger cultivated
berries because they have no flavour. She is particular about the types
of frozen berries she gets. She has a nice hefty serving of them every
morning with yogurt. I have occasionally added some frozen blueberries
to pancakes. I pour the batter and then scatter the still frozen berries
on top. They thaw quickly in the cooking process. If I add the berries
to the batter early they colour bleeds into the batter.

>
Where do the wild blueberries grow? Alongside the road? In the forest's?
How are they harvested and by whom? Nomads? Mountain people? Is it just
a marketing term?
>

Well, when it comes to bilberries, they grow in the forest and are harvested by swedish children in autumn. Their small and nimble hands make them excellent for this purpose.
Another strategy commonly employed by smaller companies, is to fly in berry pickers from Thailand and have them (equally small and nimble hands) pick the berries, and then ship them home, when the seasons is over.