Ingredient Spotlight: Huckleberries

One of my favorite childhood memories is spending summers at my parents' mountain home in Highlands, North Carolina. Most days my mom would give me a metal pail and send me out berrypicking. I never had to go far; the woods surrounding our house were laden with blueberries, blackberries, and huckleberries.

Huckleberries are small, globe-shaped berries that come in red or black, depending on the variety. Each berry contains many seeds, and the flavor is a combination of sweet and tart. Like other berries, they can be used in jams, pies, cobblers, and crumbles. The plants are found in mountainous regions with acid soil and are in season at the end of the summer. They're especially a favorite food of bears.

Give them a try if you find them; they're really delicious!

(Image: Mary Asbach - thanks!)

Comments (10)

I do not know what is in that photo, but it is definitely NOT a huckleberry. As for saying there are "many seeds", there are exactly 10 seeds in each huckleberry, and they are are technically nutlets, not seeds.

posted by Karen1Monger on August 6th 2009 at 6:13pm
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Aww, that brings back such memories. When I was little, my parents would take me and my older brother car camping at a park that had huckleberry bushes. We weren't technically supposed to pick them, but there weren't any bears, and we weren't stripping the bushes, so I can't really bring myself to feel guilty for taking some for our morning pancakes. Thanks for the lovely post! :)

posted by Elizabeth B on August 6th 2009 at 6:23pm
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Ah, that is NOT a photo of a huckleberry, or a huckleberry bush. See http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/images/Mountain%2520Huckleberry%2520(Vaccinium%2520membranaceum).jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/Huckleberries%2520and%2520bilberries.htm&usg=__kJEuarF6wcnjXFKy0HnWS3ym59Q=&h=512&w=640&sz=45&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=z4r5BlCQ9jSRKM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhuckleberry%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
or read more at http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/Huckleberries%20and%20bilberries.htm

posted by herz9160 on August 6th 2009 at 6:39pm
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Definitely not a huckleberry in the photo.

posted by wesaturtle on August 6th 2009 at 10:47pm
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I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was wondering what that berry was! I grew up near Highlands, and we picked huckleberries too. But I'm not familiar with the berry up top.

posted by Charlotte on August 7th 2009 at 4:03am
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I remember the huckleberries being round and black, without a little "crown" at the end like a blueberry has. Maybe the ones in NC are different? If this photo isn't huckleberries, what is it?

posted by Kathryn Hill on August 7th 2009 at 11:07am
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Looks like pokeweed to me. Don't want to eat those at all! The only part of the pokeweed which *isn't* poisonous are very young leaves, and even THOSE are supposed to be boiled three times before you eat them.

posted by aarongburton on August 7th 2009 at 11:45am
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I thought huckleberries only grew in the Pacific Northwest?

posted by Damfino on August 7th 2009 at 12:11pm
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They call them huckleberries other places, but they always seem weird to me. Here we have deliciously tart, tiny red berries that are a hassle to pick but so worth it.

posted by eravera on August 19th 2009 at 6:27am
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Could they be elderberries? The stems in the Saver Queen photo are red, but the growth habit looks closer to right.

(It's weird and a little annoying... back on Aug. 6, I commented a second time in this thread to say that I'd barely even looked at the photo, and my comment has mysteriously disappeared. WTH?)

posted by Elizabeth B on September 8th 2009 at 9:36am
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