We may say of angling as Dr. Boteler said of strawberries: "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did."
--Sir Izaak Walton, the Compleat Angler, 1653-55


Comes the revolution, we'll eat strawberries and cream! --Willy Howard, Ballyhoo of 1932 (vaudeville)


...if reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I
--Falstaff to Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I: II, 4, 267


When he was by, the birds such pleasure took
That some would sing, some other in their bills
Would bring him mulberries and ripe-red cherries
 --Shakespeare, "Venus and Adonis," ll. 1101-3


A 2-pound turkey and a 50-pound cranberry--that's Thanksgiving dinner at Three-Mile Island
--Johnny Carson


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Berries

Strawberries (Frangaria):

This member of the rose family is not a true berry at all, since it carries its tiny seeds on the outside of its flesh, not within its tissue. Its name probably derives from the way it grows--originally called strewberry because of the way it's "strewn" over the ground.

Romans were known to relish wild strawberries. Then, in the 1700s, a hybrid was developed between Frangaria chiloensis, the Chilean pine, and Frangaria virginiana (the Scarlet Virginian) that essentially became the modern strawberry. Of the latter, which was mentioned first in Massachusetts in 1621, one colonist in Maryland wrote, "We cannot set down a foot but we tread on strawberries."

Alpine strawberries (Frangaria vesca semperflorens), by contrast, grow in clumps and were native to Europe north of the Alps. They were unknown to ancient Greeks; barely mentioned by Romans and early medieval writers; but were greatly popular in England ifrom the 13th century onward.


Blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus):

Although considered a traditional American and Canadian fruit (and these two countries supply 95% of the world supply), blueberries (aka, huckleberries or whortleberries) are native to Europe and found on heaths and moors in acid soils.


Cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus/macrocarpon)

One of those amazing edibles that grew from earliest times in both the old and new worlds. Chef and cookbook writer Liz Clark and her colleague James W. Baker have come out with a marvelous book on "new world" cranberries, Cranberry Companion that I recommend particularly for recipes. I have much research left to do for a balanced entry on these berries, but would like to add entries on the "old world" part from Andrew Kachugin, Russian geologist and businessman, who has been kind enough to forward me the following information:

1. In Large Soviet Encyclopaedia 1978 there is only a small article. It says there are four species of evergreen halfbushes belonging to Vaccinia genus. Two of them grow in USSR. (That probably means that other species live in America.) In North America there is some cranberry "in culture". And there is no such thing in the USSR. Also it is noted that consuming the berry strengthens action of antibiotics and other medications.
2. My father worked as an engineering geologist on vast spaces of Russia making researches before construction of the great chain of Volga reservoirs. He always said -"There is a great resource in Russia still unused-THE GREAT CRANBERRY BELT. Its spreaded for hundreds or thousands kilometers and we use only a smallest part of it."
3. Cranberry juice is not on sale in Moscow. I was surprised to see it in each US restaurant when visited States in 1998. But yesterday I saw frozen cranberries on our nearest market for 75 roubles per kilogram. 75 roubles=$2.36.
4. When a russian child gets cold doctor always recommends cranberry drinks. There are two main drinks:
a) MORS -boiled and then filtrated red drink with sugar
b) KISEL-mors with dissolved starch to rise nutrition and give density.
The second drink is widely used in government establishments: hospitals, kindergartens, schools, army and so on.
5. There is a strong belief among our people that cranberry infused vodka cures hangovers.
6. I read a lot on Russian history. It's a winter civilization. Even Tartars managed to conquer Rus only in winter-time 1237/1238 thanks to frozen rivers which they used as roads. And reading about ancient Russia we can see that real activity in it started each year after ice turned waters and marshes into exellent sledge-caravan ways. Those sledges called "troikas" (a Russian invention) moved with great speed in all directions changing horses each 30 kilometers on special stations. They moved people and all kind of wares. Cranberries included. I put in that peace of history to discuss the usual matter of "bad roads" in Eurasia.