Cranberry Cornucopia

Loved Through the years. Prized centuries ago, in recent history the cranberry has been little more than an obligatory mound of gelatin on Thanksgiving dinner plates. No longer. With the emergence of a cuisine that is uniquely American, the cranberry, one of our few native fruits, is coming into its own. Chefs all over the country are discovering exciting ways to use this  colorful, versatile, and nutritious fruit. In not much more time than it takes to open a can of sauce, you can produce innovative cranberry dishes using nuts, herbs, oranges--even onions in a savory cranberry salsa.

Old Favorite. Cranberry sauce and dishes with cranberries are on more than 94% of Thanksgiving dinner tables in America. The Cajun diet has included cranberries since the 1600s when the original Cajuns (Acadians) lived in Nova Scotia, and cranberries appear on Cajun and Creole Thanksgiving tables to this day. My Great-uncle Adolphe used to bring a can of cranberry sauce to any family Thanksgiving celebration, in case the host or hostess hadn't included the fruit in the menu.

Cranberries have a long history. A Bronze Age tomb in Denmark held a clay mug with a brownish sediment which proved to be the remains of a drink made of cranberries, bog myrtle, and honey. A member of the heath family which includes blueberries, huckleberries, and bilberries, the name "cranberry" may come from the fact that its blossoms resemble a crane's head or that it's a favorite food of the crane, whose habitat includes swampy areas like cranberry bogs.

North american cranberries were described as early as 1614 by Jamestown, Virginia, colonish Capt. John Smith, but North American settlers only began consuming them in the mid-1600s. However, once cranberries became a food item, they were considered the "choicest product of the colonies." The settlers started using cranberries for soap and candles as well as food, and cranberry vinegar was a standard household pantry item.

Seventeenth-century colonists were unaware of the cranberry's vitamin C content, but in the days of wooden ships, sailors were given a daily handful. Cranberries prevented scurvy.

The Indians were ahead of the settlers in appreciating the cranberry. They had long used the fruit for "pemmican," a high-energy food with a long shelf life. To make pemmican the Indians crushed the berries with stones and mixed them with dried venison and fat drippings, then molded the mixture into small cakes. They also used the cranberry for dyes and for poultices for "blood poisoning" (wound infections).

References to the cranberry can be found throughout our literature and history books. The cranberry harvest was so important that New England grade schools did not reopen until October after the peak of cranberry picking. The annual harvest was also a social event--the last outdoor gathering of family and friends before winter snows arrived. 

During the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant considered the cranberry such an important part of the Thanksgiving meal that while holding Petersburg under siege in 1864, he ordered cranberries to be served to the soldiers for their holiday dinner. It became a national tradition. The cranberry was still making history during the American Bicentennial celebration when a drink using whiskey and cranberry juice called "the Firecracker" was developed for the occasion.

The oldest surviving cranberry recipe was for juice, published in the Compleat Cook's Guide in 1683. "Put a teacupful of cranberries into a cup of water and mash them. In the meantime, boil two quarts and a pint of water with one large spoonful of oatmeal and a very large bit of lemon peel. Then add the cranberries and as much fine Lisbon sugar as shall make a smart." Cranberry drinks regained their popularity in the 1970s when Americans becan searching for beverges with more nutrition than soda pop. Ocean Spray cranberry drinks contain 30% fruit juice, and a good deal of vitamin C. 

Versatile Fruit. Fresh cranberries store well. They may be kept in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for up to a year. Freeze them in their bags, or in a freezer-proof container. Simply remove the amount you need and replace the rest.

Sauces made from cranberries also freeze well. If you tire of the cranberry sauce you made for the holidays, freeze it for up to several weeks, then re-serve it. Your family will appreciate it even more after the holiday season is over. Look for the delicious recipe for Cranberry Salsa in the article on "Loving the Leftovers" the week of November 22nd. This is a savory salsa that transforms leftover turkey or other poultry, pork or lamb into a welcome meal. (Also find ideas and recipes for using the leftovers from your Thanksgiving meal in a way that will make them seem new.)

Cranberries are almost always sold in 12-ounce bags (approximately four cups of cranberries). High in vitamins A and C, iodine, calcium and fiber, cranberries are low in calories (46 per cup), fat and sodium, and they contain no cholesterol. They are also thought to help prevent urinary tract infections, as the urine becomes much more acidic and less hospitible to urinary tract bacteria.

Cranberries are central to the holiday season. You too can watch steam rise from pots simmering with bright red berries, and listen to their popping as the skins burst and fill the kitchen with the fragrance of cinnamon and orange. Happy Holidays!

More Cranberry Recipes