A Delightful Fruit: Elderberry Recipes

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Tart, distinctive, and versatile, elderberries grow wild across much of the U.S. PHOTO: FOTOLIOA/ANETTE LINNEA RASMUS

The elderberry—well known to our pioneer grandparents—is often overlooked today as a supply of good eating, vim, and vitality (and maybe even healing ... a Danish friend tells me that his countrymen treat the common cold with a syrup made from this excellent natural source of vitamin C). Such neglect is unfortunate, since these generous bushes grow wild in many parts of the country. Ripe fruit can be found in low, warm areas starting in mid-July, and the season lasts until mid-September at higher altitudes.

When you go out hunting elderberries, seek the blue variety (Sambucus canadensis) and not the red (Sambucus pubens) ... the latter are distasteful and in some areas even poisonous. Don't worry about confusing the two, though, for they look quite different. The toxic plant produces bright-red fruit in dome-shaped bunches, while its edible cousin bears a flat cluster of rich-blue to purple-black berries with a whitish, "dusted" surface appearance. The riper the pickings, the more frosted they become. In fact—when fully ripe—these wild delights look very much as if Mother Nature had dipped them in powdered sugar.

The sugared look is deceptive, however... raw elderberries are tart, not very appetizing, and must be cooked to come into their own. Though the fruit is small and inclined to be seedy, this slight drawback is outweighed by its distinctive fresh taste and its versatility in the kitchen.

Here's a hint that will make any berrying expedition easier: Carry a small bucket with a bail and wear a heavy leather belt on which you can sling the pail when you get to work. That way your container will be suspended at your waist within easy reach and you'll have both hands free for easier and faster picking. If you plan to gather large quantities, take along another receptacle to collect the contents of your filled bucket.

And another, more important pointer: No good forager, of course, breaks down or tramples fruit-bearing bushes. Be just as careful in harvesting and moving through a wild patch as you would if the berries were cultivated. You, or someone else, will want to come back and gather more. And always spare some of the booty for the birds and animals which depend on that source for their food. You'll still have plenty to eat if you leave those branches partly loaded ... but if the shrubs are stripped, other creatures may go hungry.