Forbidden Fruit

August is probably my favorite month in this part of the world. There are the warm, sunny days. There’s the way it starts to feel like we live in a lake-side vacation community, with people boating and riding jet-skiis around. And last, but not least, there are the berries. 

I love, love, love the blackberries. But I know I’m probably in the minority on this one.

When we first arrived here, I was taken aback by the hostility that's directed at the blackberry plant. My sister, who’s lived here for ages, just shakes her head in disgust whenever the subject comes up. The two objections I hear the most seem to be: they’re non-native and they’re invasive.

Non-native doesn’t sound like a really strong argument to me. I suspect tomatoes are non-native, too, but I doubt anyone would have an issue over growing them.

The invasive thing I get. The vines are horrendous, I admit, and seem to multiply exponentially overnight. Blackberries are “The Blob” of fruit vines. And I’m sure that if I were battling them in my backyard, I’d probably hate them, too -- at least until August when those yummy little berries pop out all over the place.

I had expected to see local restaurants throwing blackberries into anything and everything come late summer. To my surprise, they really don’t. Aren’t blackberries the very epitome of the whole “fresh, local, sustainable” movement? I’d think northwest foodie types would be all over that. But no matter their abundance (or cancer-fighting anti-oxidants) blackberries just can’t overcome their un-PC image.

The way I look at it – the vines are here and aren’t going away any time soon, no matter how often people yank them out. Since we suffer their prickly thorns, ought we not at least enjoy the little gems they offer up for a few fleeting weeks of the year?

Maybe I have such a fondness for them and the whole picking adventure because it was one of the first things my kids and I discovered when we moved here last summer. Staying in a corporate condo in Redmond, we’d skate along the Sammamish river trail every day, stopping often to pluck berries from the profusion of vines. We’d come home with fingers and shirts stained purple, a bowl of our harvest in our arms. My children were wide-eyed at their abundance, and delighted by the home-made jam and cobbler we whipped up together. For me, blackberries quickly came to be an iconic symbol of all that was summer.

As we head into September, our berry-picking days are surely numbered. I encourage you to overcome your disdain for the much maligned fruit and get ‘em while you can. It’ll be our little secret.

And just in case, here’s an unbeatable cobbler recipe:

Blackberry Cobbler with Cookie Dough Topping

(adapted from The Best Recipe)

serves 4-6

3 pints rinsed berries

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 – 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first four ingredients, spoon into pie dish and cover with foil. Set on rimmed baking sheet and bake until fruit begins to release liquid, about 15 minutes.

2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add yolk and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients.

4. Remove dish from over and drop cookie dough by heaping spoonfuls evenly over the fruit.

5. Bake another 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and nicely browned. Cool 10 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.