Enjoy the Rich Taste of Gourmet Huckleberry Products at Home
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Huckleberry lovers sometimes make their own huckleberry jams at home. If you don’t live in an area where you can pick your own huckleberries you may be able to buy them in a local store (if you live in a state like Washington, Idaho, Oregon, or Montana).
But don’t panic if you cannot acquire these delicious wild berries locally. There are many Websites that allow you to buy huckleberries online. These sites may be operated by huckleberry product manufacturers, retailers, or resellers. You can also find them on major etailer sites like Amazon. But what is the big deal with huckleberries? What makes them so special?
Are you familiar with the difference between habanero peppers and jalapeno peppers? The rule of thumb with peppers is that the smaller they are the hotter they are. The same rule sort of applies to fruits in the blue berry family. Most of us have tried blueberries, which are sweet and delicious. True wild mountain huckleberries are related to blueberries but they tend to be smaller and sweeter.
Although there are some garden plants called huckleberries, these typically are not the same species as the wild mountain huckleberries. True huckleberries have not yet been domesticated so there are no huckleberry farms. To acquire huckleberries, the small gourmet food manufacturers must bring them in from the wild or purchase huckleberries from local residents who collect them. The cottage huckleberry industry thrives from July through September, when the berries ripen on the vine.
Among the most popular huckleberry products are huckleberry jams and huckleberry pie fillings, but some companies will sell you raw huckleberries directly. Make sure you have the ability to freeze your huckleberries because you usually have to buy a whole 5-gallon bucket. It’s not easy to eat 5 gallons of huckleberries in one sitting.
There is a lot of information about wild huckleberries on the Internet. A few sites will try to draw you in with brief articles that have little substance, but many huckleberry enthusiasts are very serious about their fruit. They will tell you everything you need to know about huckleberries, or point you to helpful sites that provide more information.