Huckleberries
During the high season, Erna Fortin makes “as many as 40″ huckleberry pies a day, reports Gwen Florio in USA Today (5/7/07). The pies sell like, well, hotcakes — for $25 each at The Huckleberry Patch in Hungry, Horse, Montana. Erna starts off the season, which begins on Memorial Day, using frozen huckleberries from the previous season. But by the 4th of July she’s using fresh berries, which is when things get more interesting. That’s because huckleberries can’t be tamed — they only grow in the wild, and flourish on “the precipitous slopes of the Northern Rockies.” It’s also because huckleberries happen to be the chosen food of the grizzly bear. Bruce Opalka is a huckleberry picker. He’s 67 years old, and he says he’s been picking huckleberries for six decades now. He also says “he can’t count the times he’s straightened up from a huckleberry bush and looked into the eyes of a bear … with telltale purple stains on its mouth and paws.” Bruce carries a canister of pepper spray with him for such moments, but, luckily, says he’s never had to use it. All for the love of these “small blueberries that are not, in fact, blueberries.” They actually have “a much more robust taste” than blueberries, and “melt in your mouth” in a way that blueberries — even wild blueberries — just don’t. This is why, in Montana, it is now “a misdemeanor to label a product ‘huckleberry’ if it contains any other fruit.” That’s important stuff because “there are plenty of opportunities for labeling in this state, whose population seems in collective thrall to the tiny, tart berry.” Why, even a local KFC offers huckleberry ice cream and there’s a diner where you can quaff a huckleberry martini. Meanwhile, back at the Huckleberry Patch, Erna Fortin is not only rolling out the huckleberry pies, but also whipping up huckleberry pancakes, huckleberry ice cream and huckleberry shakes. “I thought I would get sick of them,” says Erna, “But I have never gotten tired of huckleberries. ~ Tim Manners, editor |
