The TODAY Show searched the world for the top superfoods that enhance and prolong longevity.  They narrowed it down to three finalists and we were pretty excited to learn what they were. Olive oil from Cypress in the Eastern Mediterranean, rye from Scandinavia and Wild Blueberries from Maine and Eastern Canada.

Anyone who’s had the pleasure of picking Wild Blueberries knows they are a delicious amazing fruit with sweet and tart flavor profile.  Savvy chefs and innovators across the U.S. are beginning to understand that Wild Blueberries provide extraordinary taste and health benefits to a variety of menus and packaged foods, from baked goods, to smoothies, to salads, to energy bars.  In fact, the benefit of wild food, such as Wild Blueberries, is gaining prominence as restaurant chains and packaged food makers seek ingredients that fulfill the promise of great taste, superior nutrition, and that have a unique origin story.  Wild Blueberries deliver on all of those fronts.

Telling the Wild Story

The TODAY Show recently sent a production crew to the Wild Blueberry barrens of Maine to unearth the story behind this amazing 10,000-year-old crop and its connection to longevity. The 4-minute segment is a must see for any chef or food service innovator interested in wild foods, from how they are grown to why they are so extraordinary for human health.

Dr. Mary Ann Lila, a foremost expert on the health benefits of Wild Blueberries, told TODAY: “When you break open a wild blueberry or eat it you’ll get stains on your fingers. Those stains are pigments which are the health protective compounds which help with … cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes … memory [and] many forms of cancer.”

These deep-blue pigments, known as anthocyanins, a subclass of phytonutrients called flavonoids, create stains that can be tough to get out, but research shows they’re worth it.

Here’s a punch list of Wild Blueberry benefits:

• Wild Blueberries have antiviral characteristics that can boost immunity.
• Wild Blueberries are naturally low in fat, high in fiber (21% of your daily value – 2x that of regular blueberries).
• Wild Blueberries are an excellent source of manganese (170% of your daily value – 8x that of regular blueberries), which is important for bone development.
• Wild Blueberries have 32% less sugar than farmed varieties with just 10 grams of sugar per cup.
• Wild Blueberries are a low glycemic food, scoring 53 out of 100-point glycemic index.

All of this makes Wild Blueberries a naturally nutrient-rich choice, adding important dietary nutrients without adding “empty” calories, while the flavonoids cause the berries to be rich in antioxidants, which work to fight inflammation.

Wild Blueberries are one of America’s oldest indigenous crops, growing right where mother nature put them in the harsh northern landscape of Maine and Eastern Canada. The plant’s unique ability to survive in thin glacial soils and a harsh northern climate makes Wild Blueberries one the preferred fruits available with twice the antioxidants of ordinary blueberries.

Over the last two decades, scientific research has found that powerful phytonutrients in Wild Blueberries may help reduce inflammation, lower the risk of many chronic diseases, and contribute to healthy aging.

When Panera Bread Head Baker Tom Gumpel visited the Wild Blueberry barrens he noted:  “Chefs and bakers have known for years that Wild Blueberries are the perfect ingredient for any real foods menu.  I’m still amazed when a chain neglects to call out ‘Wild’ on their menu.  If you’re a baker like me, you should be sourcing frozen Wild Blueberries. If you’re using wild, you should say so.”

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Wholesale Wild Blueberries are available in bulk year-round in virtually any format you need including; individually -quick-frozen (IQF), dried, concentrate, puree, and powder. New and innovative forms are continually emerging as part of the industry’s ongoing R&D efforts. Contact a Wild Blueberry supplier in the U.S or Canada to learn more.

Watch the TODAY Show story on Wild Blueberries: https://on.today.com/2I7zAqD

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Frozen berries are often better tasting, better performing, and frankly, more affordable.

With more fiber, less sugar, and twice the antioxidants of regular blueberries, frozen Wild Blueberries offer a “Real Foods” advantage to your menu, so be sure to call them out. Frozen Wild Blueberries are not just for muffins either. Puree frozen berries right into your smoothie recipes in lieu of ice. Fold them into pancake recipes. Use them for savory meat sauces. Try fermenting them for healthy probiotic recipes. They’re great in salad dressings, signature cocktails, BBQ sauces, fruit cups, and, of course, desserts!

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The case for frozen is clear

Unfortunately, some chefs still assume that frozen produce is inferior to fresh. But if more chefs stopped to consider how fresh produce gets from farm to the table, they would better appreciate the value high quality frozen produce can bring to their menu.

Just how long does it take for fresh fruits and vegetables to get from field to market? Speaking in ideal terms, a product that’s in season and ripe still needs to be:

• Picked
• Cleaned
• Packed
• Shipped to a warehouse
• Shipped to a distributor or market
• Delivered to the end user
• Prepared in a recipe
• And eaten

At each of these stops there’s a pause, further prolonging the process. It’s not an exaggeration to assume that it could take days or weeks from the time a fruit or vegetable is picked until it’s finally prepared and consumed by your customers.

Does fresh produce suffer en route?

What happens to the quality of fresh produce while it’s making its way to your kitchen? And what about everything else it must endure, from bumping and bruising, to changes in temperature and humidity? There’s no simple answer because each fruit or vegetable responds differently. But they all change as a result. Some of these changes include the conversion of starch to sugar or sugars to starch. Others include loss of important nutrients, color, and flavor.

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So, what about frozen?

Most frozen produce goes from field to freezer in less than 24 hours. This allows it to be picked at its peak of ripeness without having to allow for variables, such as transportation, storage, and time to market. Today’s Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) technology has solved many of the most daunting issues associated with fresh food. IQF freezing allows the nutritional value of the food to be locked in within hours of harvest; it also ensures the quality and integrity of the product.

Tips for using frozen Wild Blueberries

1. When using frozen fruits or vegetables like frozen Wild Blueberries, don’t thaw them out in advance! It’s best to incorporate them in their frozen IQF Wild Blueberries preserve flavor and nutrients so there’s no reason to let all that goodness escape down the drain.
2. Be sure to coat frozen Wild Blueberries with a light dusting of flour or corn starch to prevent the juices from bleeding into product. This has the added advantage of holding the berries in suspension in baked products so gravity can’t clump them on the bottom of the cake or muffin tin.
3. If the berries must be defrosted, save the juice. Bring it to a boil, slowly reduce it to a syrup, and use it as an ingredient, sauce or glaze.

Bottom Line
When the application calls for it, be sure to choose frozen over fresh.

“Real foods” and “clean labels” are driving culinary leaders to bring products and menus back to nature. Culinary innovators like Smoothie King, Au Bon Pain and Chobani are foraging for authentic superfood ingredients that stand out from the crowd when it comes to flavor and nutritionals.

According to Wholefood’s Market Top Trends for 2018, “Consumers want to know the real story behind their food.” The quest for authenticity, health and sustainability has put the spotlight on ancient grains and fruits. More digestible sprouted grains, non-GMO, naturally ripened and sweetened – clean simple ingredients that taste amazing and make you feel good.

Nutritionists have long hailed breakfast as the most important meal of the day, but as culinary influencers zoom in on ingredient transparency and nutritionals, breakfast is getting a makeover. Breakfast has become a meal-theme that’s consumed throughout the day at home, as an on-the-go snack or as a fuel-up restaurant occasion.

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Innovators appetite for ancient ingredients

Unlike some wild berries, where the natural defense is a bitter taste, Wild Blueberries are deliciously sweet with a potent tangy flavor that delights the palate and makes them ripe for real food innovation. The North American continent’s first inhabitants in Maine and Eastern Canada picked these tiny wild berries for their flavor, nutrition and healing abilities. Crowning each Wild Blueberry is the signature base of a dormant flower, a calyx in the shape of a five-pointed star. Legend has it that during a time of starvation, the Great Spirit delivered these “star berries” to relieve the hunger of his children. The pursuit of real ingredients is bringing new product developers back to their ancestral roots.

New releases invoke authenticity

Smoothie King’s Cleaner Blending 2018 initiative calls out Wild Blueberries as a whole fruit ingredient with a more intense flavor and nutritionals that “will help you meet your New Year’s goals.”

The national chain is eliminating added sugar from over 50 smoothies as well as GMO fruits and veggies and artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. Smoothie King Franchises is a New Orleans-area-based franchise company with more than 900 units worldwide.

Au Bon Pain – “Simply put, Bon means good.”

Au Bon Pain’s VP of Innovation, Katherine See, and her team recognize that meals should always offer flavor whether they’re picked as an indulgent treat or for their nutritional values. Their new seasonal winter menu achieves a balance that delivers on both fronts. Their featured Overnight Oats are soaked overnight in vanilla Greek yogurt & skim milk with bananas, almonds, dark chocolate chips and Wild Blueberries.

Chobani – “A food-focused wellness company.”

In 2017, Chobani was recognized by Fast Company as one of the top 10 most innovative companies in the world. Chobani recently announced their regional roll-out of the new “A Hint Of” fruit range, in the Northeast, Florida and the Pacific, which will go national this summer. “A simply-crafted, blended Greek yogurt made with only natural ingredients, hand-selected varietal real fruits and spices for delicious flavor with less sweetness.” Packaged in a to-go-size cup with only natural sweeteners (9g sugar) and high protein (12g), and five “curated” flavors. Madagascar Vanilla, Monterey Strawberry, Alphonso Mango, Gili Cherry and Wild Blueberry. This exotic line-up is portrayed by Chobani as a – “Wink at the beauty and simplicity of a juicy little piece of nature, blended with perfectly creamy Greek Yogurt.”

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Culinary innovators recognize the value of featuring a Wild Superfruit ingredient and its perceived promise of taste, health and sustainability. Discover the Power of Wild research and how Wild Blueberries can give your brand a competitive edge with real food consumers. Research categories include smoothies, yogurt, granola, beef jerky, snack bars, muffins, restaurant entrees, breakfasts, desserts and more. Check out the food category relevant to your business at: wildblueberries.com/eatwild

Editorial consulting by the Culinary Institute of America

What was once a crème brulée, is now a butterscotch miso crème brulée from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The classic Japanese spicy tuna handroll is now a sushi burrito from San Francisco based Sushirrito. Sriracha mayonnaise is one of the trendiest sandwich and dipping spreads on today’s menus.

Flavorful and unexpected mash-ups like these are being seen on menus across America.  They’re also appearing on consumer package goods, from R.W. Garcia’s Lentil & Turmeric Tortilla Chips to Krave’s Wild Blueberry Beef Bars, the fusion craze allows chefs to put together sets of flavor combinations that work well in concert with each other.

The Global Fusion Movement is about embracing authentic flavors from around the world and creating innovative ways to meld them together and mix them with our favorite standbys.  With social media and TV offering culinary education and global travel to the masses, food manufacturers and chefs are taking hold and beginning to leverage that sense of adventure.  Global flavors, whether spice blends from North Africa or Kaffir lime from Thailand, infiltrate everything from breakfast and snacktime to desserts and ready-to-eat foods.

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With the world at our fingertips, it’s tempting to include an exotic ingredient or even substitute more traditional ingredients with those from another culture. For instance, we could substitute Wild Blueberries for mango in a Mexican Corn Salsa. This would not only showcase the Wild Blueberries in a unique way but also add color and some sweet tart zing to this ubiquitous condiment.

I’ve included a recipe so you can see for yourself!

Wild Blueberries are sweet, tart, and tannic and lend themselves to a wide variety of global flavors that grow in drastically different environments.

Combine frozen Wild Blueberries with tropical ginger in a smoothie and you have a great fusion of superfoods that satisfies one’s nutritional needs as well as the desire for exciting flavor combinations. Add dried Wild Blueberries to the traditional apricot, fig, and almond garnish in a Moroccan Lamb Tagine and you have a North American-North African twist on this authentic dish of game meat and dried fruits.

Wild Blueberry salsa, anyone?

Carnitas Tacos with Wild Blueberry and Charred Corn Salsa

Yield: 6 portions

2 lbs pork shoulder
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 onion, peeled and quartered
3 cups orange juice
1 Tbsp Cumin, ground
1 tsp Oregano, dry
2 Tbsp salt

Salsa:
1 cup frozen Wild Blueberries
1 ear corn, fresh, grilled, shucked
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt

12 corn tortillas, 6-inch
1/2 cup sour cream
6 lime wedges

Preparation
1. Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Season pork with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and place into an oven proof dish.
3. Add onion and garlic cloves, heat on the burner until the liquid boils, cover with foil and place into the oven. Cook for 3 hours or until meat is fork tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Remove the foil and shred the meat. Mash the garlic and onion and mix with the meat, or remove if desired.
5. Place the pan on the stove and cook on medium heat until the liquid has evaporated and the meat begins to fry in its own fat. Continue to fry the meat until light browned, stirring occasionally.
6. For the salsa, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and adjust seasoning as desired.
7. To serve, heat the tortillas on the burner over the flame or in a heated cast iron pan.
8. Place ½ cup of meat into each tortilla and top with ¼ cup of salsa.
9. Garnish with sour cream and lime wedges

About the Author 

Chef Rebecca Peizer, C.H.E. C.E.C.
Associate Professor of Culinary Arts
Culinary Institute of America at Greystone

Rebecca’s passion for food set her on a path to the Culinary Institute of America where she graduated in 2000. From there, she set off to New York City where she became a private chef. She took her next big step in the culinary world when she moved to California and opened Roux, a restaurant in St. Helena in the heart of the Napa Valley. Roux quickly took off and theSan Francisco Chronicle named it Top 10 Restaurants in the Bay Area 2001. On the heels of that honor, Food & Wine named her Top 10 Sous Chefs in America 2002. Over the course of her career, Rebecca has had the opportunity to work with many great chefs including Jacques Pepin, Martin Yan, Bradly Ogden, Cindy Pawlcyn, and Julia Childs. She has catered events for presidential candidates, Napa Valley winemakers, and prominent artists, and now shares her passion for food and wine with students at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley.

When you want someone to fall in love, you don’t send them an email offering “a great deal on a relationship.” You grab ‘em by the hand, take them someplace truly special, and immerse each and every one of their five senses–taste, touch, sight, smell, sound—in an extraordinary moment in time. That’s exactly what happened last summer, when 10 remarkable chefs from across America dropped what they were doing and travelled to Maine for a chance at falling in love with wild food.

The Wild Blueberry Association of North America hosted this first-ever “Eating on the Wild Side” chef event. The 3-day excursion was based in culinary hotspot Portland, Maine, and included a chance to rake Wild Blueberries on a hilltop barren, haul in lobster traps on Casco Bay, and savor a ton of local wild foods.

Watch the inspiring video that captures this Wild immersion and hear what these culinary leaders have to say about the relevance of Wild and the real food movement. Check out the Wild Chef Challenge as these culinary innovators bring nature’s bounty back to the kitchen, flex their culinary muscles and pay homage to the tiny “star berries” that have been growing Wild in Maine, Eastern Canada and Quebec for over 10,000 years.

To learn more about the Power of Wild check out the latest consumer preference research that demonstrates how a Wild Superfruit ingredient can positively impact purchase intent, price premiums, taste, health and sustainability in today’s most successful “Real Foods” products. Get insights into the value of adding Wild Blueberries vs. regular blueberries to help elevate your menu and enhance your brand.

The research delves into 16 foodservice and packaged goods categories and shows the power of using Wild Blueberries and calling it out on packaging and menus.

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To find out more about this research and how Wild Blueberries can help you better connect with today’s real food consumers, check out the food category relevant to your business at wildblueberries.com/eatwild. The latest research categories include baby food, beef jerky, snack bars, granola, restaurant entrees, breakfasts, desserts and more.

Just click on your category and view the research highlights or download the entire Power of Wild report to get the full story.

Editorial consulting by the Culinary Institute of America

The holiday season is upon us and as revelers slog through their shopping lists, they’re also looking for full-service restaurants and bars with unique and delicious cocktails and mocktails. Adult beverages are powerful tools for restaurants, providing a compelling reason to walk through the door, as well as high profit margins. The National Restaurant Association 2017 Culinary Forecast puts regional signature cocktails, culinary cocktails, and craft/artisan spirits in the five top alcoholic beverage trends.

If you’re looking for ways to supercharge your restaurant’s cocktail menu, you should be seeking out unique ingredients that add flavor, color, and excitement. Wild Blueberries deliver all three, and even a few more: high nutritional value and real foods appeal.

There are four easy ways to add Wild Blueberries to your beverage menu, and each adds distinct color, flavor, and texture options.

1. Wild Blueberry Juice can be purchased ready-to-use or you can repurpose the juice from thawed frozen Wild Blueberries.
2. A more concentrated juice can be made by plumping dried Wild Blueberries in warm water, rum, fortified wine, or even vinegar for trendy shrubs and switchells. Simply strain the berries off and add them to a compote, salsa, sauce, or salad for accent.
3. Frozen Wild Blueberries can also be added whole to beverages. The easiest way to add them to a cocktail is to…add them to a cocktail. It’s as easy as that.
4. Using a muddler, you can crush frozen Wild Blueberries in the bottom of a mixing glass before adding the other ingredients to create a great fruit-inclusive cocktail. Knowing that Wild Blueberries have an affinity for mint makes me want to drop a few fresh mint leaves in there as well—the muddler will take care of those, too. (Note – while you should mash the Wild Blueberries pretty well, the mint only needs moderate pressure to release its aromatic oils. Mashing the mint brings out vegetal notes). Clear spirits such as Gin and Silver Rum work better with these flavors.

So, in the interest of a festive holiday season (and your restaurant’s profit margin), here are a few cocktails to try.

Splurge Sidecar
2 oz Cognac (or other grape brandy)
1 oz Wild Blueberry syrup
1 oz Fresh Lemon juice
1 sprig of fresh mint
Ice

Wild Blueberry Syrup 
To make a Wild Blueberry syrup, take one cup each of Wild Blueberries, sugar and water, and simmer in a saucepan for fifteen minutes. After it cools, pour it through a strainer in to a bowl, and press the berries with the back of a ladle or wooden spoon to extract most of the liquid. Don’t mash too hard or you’ll make the syrup cloudy. This syrup will keep, refrigerated, for three or four weeks. If you want it to keep longer, add a tablespoon of vodka.

Method:
Add all liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Cover and shake it like someone who owes you money. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or rocks glass filled with ice. Hold the mint sprig in the palm of one hand and slap it with the other to release the aromatic oils. Garnish your drink with it.

Wimbledon Overhead Smash
2 oz Gin
1 oz Fresh lime juice
1 oz Simple syrup
About a dozen frozen Wild Blueberries
3-4 fresh mint leaves
Ice

Method:
Place Wild Blueberries and simple syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Muddle well with the flat end of the muddler. Add the mint leaves and press them firmly with the muddler. Add the rest of the ingredients, and enough ice to come over the top of the liquids. Close the shaker and shake it like you mean it. Strain the cocktail into a chilled martini glass, or a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. One option is to use another, finer strainer to ‘double strain’ the drink to keep blueberry and mint solids out, resulting in a more ‘refined’ cocktail. I’m not that refined so I usually don’t bother with that when I’m doing it for myself.

Happy holidays!

Watch the Eat Wild Video and hear what leading Chefs have to say about Wild foods and the Real Food movement.

About the Author

John Fischer

Professor of Hospitality and Service Management, CIA

John Fischer is Professor of Hospitality and Service Management at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY., where he teaches the college’s Wine, Beverage and Hospitality Management specialization.

Mr. Fischer is the author At Your Service: A Hands-On Guide to the Professional Dining Room (John Wiley & Sons, 2005) and co-author of Bistros and Brasseries (Lebhar-Friedman, 2008) and Cheese (Kitchen Pro Series) (Delmar Cengage Learning 2010).

A 1988 CIA graduate, Mr. Fischer completed his externship field experience cooking at Le Bernardin in New York City. He was general manager of Morrell Wine Bar & Café, Cellar Master at Rainbow!, manager and wine director at Fresco by Scotto, wine and floor manager at Manhattan Ocean Club, wine director and beverage manager at Campagna and Hudson River Club, and maître d’ and wine director at Mondrian. A Certified Hospitality Educator (C.H.E.), Mr. Fischer holds a Master’s of Science degree in Educational Technology from Walden University and is a 1981 graduate of Swarthmore College.

Editorial consulting by the Culinary Institute of America

There’s no doubt that the public is seeking greater and faster transparency about their food. In the college and university segment, where tomorrow’s consumers are learning about food today, you will see an increased level of ingredient disclosure of menu items. Many campus dining offices are now using apps to provide nutrition information, allergen information, and ingredient listings for all prepared foods that are served. This is a major paradigm shift in how food information is shared with consumers. As these students graduate and become consumers, there will be even greater demand for this kind of information in restaurants, corporate dining rooms, and retail establishments.

Clean label product development and innovation is a growing practice area for CIA Consulting too. While there is still no formal definition from the government, consumers don’t seem to mind creating their own. That’s how hot the topic has become.

Three Clean-Label Criteria

Marketers and manufacturers tend to agree that the public is looking for foods that meet three criteria:

1. additive-free
2. minimally processed
3. containing recognizable ingredients 

Even foods with natural or organic ingredients can fail to pass all three tests.

Shopping for clean labels is harder than you think. Try bringing home a box of organic mac and cheese.  Many of the options on the shelf contain organic sodium phosphate, organic annatto seed extract, organic corn starch, and organic yeast extract. Sure, all of these things are organic but do you recognize them and want them in your mac and cheese?  As a chef, I prefer to make my own (as any good chef should in the first place).

Clean Product Innovation is on the Rise
Recently at the CIA, we worked with a commercial manufacturer trying to make a clean label line of sauces that included only stock, vegetables, and roux for thickening. Their biggest challenge was finding good quality clean label tomato paste to use as an ingredient in their sauces.  Another project involved a dried cranberry producer wanting to make fruit and nut blends with its product. A big guardrail on that project was the exclusive use of clean label products (no sulfites, phosphates, HFCs, etc). Not an easy task, because many dried fruits are treated with these additives to keep them tender once dried.

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Wild Blueberries –  the Perfect Clean Label Ingredient

Clean label extends beyond sustainability, wellness, and localism. If anything, it has come to represent an intersection of all three, and the fewer ingredients the better. In frozen, dried, or pureed form, Wild Blueberries are as clean as it gets.

Few ingredients can lend to flavor and nutritional boost all by themselves. Wild Blueberries convey piquancy, sweetness, texture, and nutrient density in everything from barbecue sauce to granola bars while reducing reliance on other ingredients. As a wild-harvested ingredient, Wild Blueberries also convey a sense of place and terroir, stemming from their hardy upbringing on the desolate glacial barrens of Maine and eastern Canada.

Pretty good for such a tiny package.

About the Author

Chef David Kamen, PC^III, MBA 

Project Manager, CIA Consulting

Chef David Kamen has enjoyed a diverse career in the culinary world. He served as executive chef of St. Andrew’s Café, one of five award-winning public restaurants on the Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park campus. He’s also been professor of culinary arts at CIA, where he taught everything from culinary skills development, to seafood and meat identification and fabrication, to breakfast cookery. Today, Chef Kamen is a project manager for CIA Consulting, where he is responsible for planning and managing custom projects for professional foodservice operations. A certified hospitality educator, Kamen earned dual certification from the CIA and the American Culinary Federation as a ProChef Level III (PC^III) and Certified Executive Chef (CEC).  He also holds a B.A. and M.A. in Business Administration from Empire State College.

Editorial consulting by the Culinary Institute of America

Living in a quiet part of the Northeastern U.S., late spring and summer is one of my favorite times of year, and it’s the time when produce is as good as it gets. The Wild Blueberries are no exception. I love to pick them on hiking trails and ponder of all the dishes I’ll make back in the kitchen.

Chefs tend to have a bias toward fresh products, and we often equate that with unfrozen, even though food that’s frozen within hours of harvest may actually be “fresher” than food that has sat for days or weeks in a warehouse. More importantly, if I only used wild seasonal foods, such as Wild Blueberries, from my foraging, I would be confined to wonderful Wild Blueberry dishes for only a few weeks of the year.

Wild Frozen Tips for Consistent Results

Bear a few principles in mind when working with Wild Blueberries.

Moisture in food changes cooking times immensely, especially in pastries. Due to their size and high solids-to-water ratio, frozen Wild Blueberries do not measure the same as fresh cultivated berries, so recipes may need to be adjusted downwards in weight and volume. The cooking time of the wild berry is also shorter since there is less water to evaporate. If you are preparing a base for multiple uses as I do, remember that wild blueberries have 32% less sugar than cultivated blueberries, and should be cooked to a specific temperature rather than a time or volume target due to their sugar content. The sugars should have just started to caramelize (about 230 degrees F for fructose), but not gotten to the point where the sweetness or browning takes over the flavor of the berry itself. Cooking at too high a temperature will result in a solid, unworkable mass if you plan to refrigerate it.

Some Tips Worth Sharing

• When baking with Wild Blueberries, coat with a pure starch such as cornstarch or arrowroot instead of wheat flour since they require less moisture to gelatinize
• For compotes and bases, cook them from frozen without slacking.
• Once slacked-out, Wild Blueberries begin to break down, so use quickly. However, if you macerate them the juice that they release is a truly dark purple and can be reduced to make an amazing glaze.
• Serve frozen Wild Blueberries by the bowl or in beverages to poolside cabanas for guests to enjoy in the warmer months (a habit I fell into myself on hot nights in the kitchen).

Over the years I have been able to work from coast to coast, and at times I have enjoyed all sorts of berries from South and Central America, Canada, Maine, New York, New Jersey and California. Berries often differ in size, flavor, and sugar content. However frozen Wild Blueberries are consistent. They are always small, potent, and healthy. This means my recipes do not need to be altered. Frozen Wild Blueberries are consistently available to me through my local distributor no matter what state I am working in.

Lemon Soufflé Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Jam

Pancakes:
6 each eggs, separated
2 cups ricotta
2 TBSP sugar
½ tsp salt
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup cake flour

• In a kitchen aid mixer whip eggs to medium peaks
• In a bowl mix all dry ingredients and then wet
• Fold in whipped egg whites a third at a time until batter in smooth
• Heat griddle to 325°F and make pancakes before batter deflates

Wild Blueberry Jam:
5 cups frozen Wild Blueberries
3 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

• Add all ingredients into a medium size pot
• Cook on medium heat until jam reaches 180°F stirring often
• Remove from heat and cool before storing

About the Author 

By Sean Kahlenberg ‘04, Lecturing Instructor, The Culinary Institute of America

Sean Kahlenberg is a Lecturing Teacher at the Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A.) at the Hyde Park Campus. Chef Kahlenberg teaches numerous culinary classes throughout the program.  A native Australia and a 2004 graduate of the C.I.A. Chef Kahlenberg worked in a number of restaurants across world, which led him to the field of culinary consulting in Las Vegas, Nevada.  From this he returned to his Alma Mater and is currently the Chef Instructor of the campus’ Italian Restaurant Caterina di Medici.

Editorial consulting by the Culinary Institute of America

In case you haven’t noticed, dried fruit is experiencing a comeback. Remember the days when Trader Joe’s was one of the few places in America that truly celebrated the dried fruit, and manufacturers used them only once a year in Christmas fruit cake?

Today dried fruit is showing up in all sorts of places: from traditional baked goods, snack bars, granola, trail mix, and oatmeal to jerky, chutneys, salads, and wilted greens. Not to mention cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and even pet food.

Panera Bread was an early innovator with the dried Wild Blueberry, and it paid off. Their Wild Blue Scone is a leading bakery item for Panera and their head baker, Tom Gumpel, says they can’t take it off the menu because customers would protest.

Why are dried Wild Blueberries so special?

The chewy, flavor-filled punch that comes from those tiny sweet/tart berries makes a memorable taste and texture sensation. With their potent flavor, deep purple hue, and tiny size, dried Wild Blueberries are like little flavor bombs that can elevate any food.

Because of increasing demand, Wild Blueberries are now available in a variety of interesting formats: The moisture content can vary from moist to dry to almost crumbly; the texture can vary from crunchy to chewy; and they are available whole or in pieces. How about vacuum microwave dried, infused, freeze dried? Dried Wild Blueberries are a simple, Plus-1addition to a signature menu item or manufactured food. In other words, with a single ingredient you can transform food to innovative, premium status.

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No matter what format you need, you’ll get the great taste and nutritional payoff that comes with all Wild Blueberries.

Wild Blueberries lend themselves beautifully to dehydration. They have a naturally lower water content than cultivated blueberries, which makes them perfect candidates for fast dehydration with minimal nutrient and flavor loss. The flavor actually intensifies as moisture is removed. This in turn preserves all the antioxidants and flavors, which make them so good when they’re fresh. Despite growing in the wild, the crop is managed to produce large quantities at reasonable prices.

How do food innovators creatively leverage growing customer demand for natural ingredients like Wild Blueberries?

To create new flavors and textures, many chefs and bakers are turning to dried Wild Blueberries. Some are even experimenting with new formats. Have you thought about reconstituting dried Wild Blueberries with flavorful liquids? Flavored syrups, fruit juices, and liqueurs all offer chefs and bakers different options to add interesting flavors to this natural ingredient. The options are of course endless; vinegars, rose water, and extracts – basically any water-based liquid you can think of. Depending on the liquid, you can adjust sweetness or acidity while also imparting new flavors into the Wild Blueberries.

Beyond flavor, chefs have some control over the texture of the dried berries as well. Fully hydrated Wild Blueberries can easily be pureed and added to smoothies, frostings, or cocktails with an intense and distinctive flavor. Slight hydration provides a chewy texture that’s perfect for folding into cake, muffin or bread batters, garnishing healthy salads, or adding flavor to a house-made granola. Freeze-dried Wild Blueberries offer an incredible crispness with less intense sweetness and acidity. They can add welcome texture to earthy venison tartare, improve upon a fall or winter salad, and create a perfect ice cream sundae topping.

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Of course, there are many options for chefs and bakers to utilize whole, natural food products and ingredients. But working with dried Wild Blueberries doesn’t require much of the headache often associated with maintaining and constantly updating a seasonally specific menu (let alone a micro-seasonal menu). They’re simple to source, shelf stable and they provide a natural, wholesome, nutritious, and tasty impact on your menu.

About the Author 

Zach Minot

Writer & Recipe Developer, The Culinary Institute of America

Zach Minot is a writer and recipe developer for The Culinary Institute of America and other clients. He grew up along the east coast, living in Florida, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York before finally arriving in Vermont for good in 2010. Zach has cooked for numerous high-end restaurants including New York City’s Gramercy Tavern, and Vermont’s The Kitchen Table Bistro and the Inn at Shelburne Farms. He has worked on the set of acclaimed Food Network’s Good Eats with Alton Brown and has been hands-on with culinary media since 2005.