BLACKBERRIES

The origin of blackberries is difficult to trace, but it is assumed that they were native to Northern parts of Europe, Asia and America.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as Native Americans, all used blackberries as part of their traditional medicine and as a common food source.

Raw dried blackberries can be eaten as a snack on their own or in combination with other dried fruits or nuts. Blackberries can be used to add variety to breakfast cereals, fruit/vegetable shakes, home-made ice-cream, fruit salads and raw desserts.

Soaked blackberries can be used as a topping on a ricotta and basil pizza, add them to a salad with rocket and even a ham sandwich.

Blackberries are great for making sauces and side-dishes, which are used to complement beef, salmon and chicken.

Blackberries thrive all across the world, with the exception of Antarctica. There are more than 2,000 varieties of blackberries. The largest producer of blackberries is Mexico.

The harvesting takes place between June and August, when they become fully ripe.

Botanically, blackberries belong to the same family as raspberries, with the main difference being that when picking a raspberry, the torus remains on the plant, whereas with a blackberry fruit, the torus stays with the fruit.

In the old European villages, they used blackberry shrubs and their thorns to protect themselves against animals and other intruders.

The Native Americans used branches to make rope and fruit to prepare indigo blue paint.