They’re great with turkey and stuffing, baked in your morning muffin, dried and sprinkled on a salad, or poured as a delicious and healthy juice. A fixin’ fixture on Thanksgiving tables or strung as Christmas garland, the jolly red cranberry takes center stage at holiday time. Here are seven more juicy facts about the tart and tasty cranberry and a few recipes to try out this fall.
1. Home-grown. The cranberry is among the fruits native to North America. Others include the blueberry, strawberry, gooseberry, and Concord grape.
2. Naming rights. The Cape Cod Pequots and Leni-Lenape tribes of New Jersey called them “ibimi” (bitter berry). But it was Dutch and German settlers that named the fruit “crane berry” (later known as cranberry) because its flower resembled the head and bill of a crane.
3. Berry many uses. Native Americans used cranberries for several purposes including curing meat, dying fabric and healing wounds. Pemmican, a Native American recipe mixing mashed cranberries and deer meat was essentially the first “energy bar.” The fruit’s acidity was a natural preservative and prevented bacteria, providing long-lasting sustenance.
4. Best grown in cool climates and sandy soils. First cultivated in 1816 on Cape Cod and widely grown in Southeastern Massachusetts, cranberries are also produced in Wisconsin, Oregon, New Jersey, and Washington. Since 1994, the cranberry has been the official berry of Massachusetts (cranberry juice is the official state beverage), and in 2003 became the official state fruit of Wisconsin, which is now the largest producer (4.67 million barrels in 2019). Massachusetts is second, with 2.16 million barrels produced last year.
5. Eat ‘em for the health of it. With a high vitamin C content, cranberries were stored and consumed on long sea voyages to help prevent scurvy. Because they prevent bacteria, cranberries can help curb plaque buildup on teeth which can lead to cavities and gum disease, and the antioxidants and phytonutrients in them have many other health benefits.
6. Musical fruit. The Cranberries became the name of a popular alternative rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1989. The band, featuring the late vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler, originally called itself The Cranberry Saw Us (cranberry sauce, if said quickly). It’s possible “cranberry sauce” was in reference to the words John Lennon said he actually spoke during the fade out of the song “Strawberry Fields Forever,” rather than “I’m very bored” or “I buried Paul.”
7. Cranberries by the numbers. Americans put away some 400 million pounds of cranberries each year. About 80 million pounds — or 20 percent — are gobbled up during Thanksgiving week. There are 200 cranberries used in every can of cranberry sauce, 440 cranberries in a one-pound bag and 4,400 cranberries in one gallon of juice. Seven of 10 cranberries sold in the world today come from Ocean Spray, a grower cooperative started in 1930 and based in Lakeville, Massachusetts.
Autumn menu additions
Autumn has arrived and the holidays are right around the corner. Here are three, easy-to-make cranberry recipes. For dozens more delicious cranberry creations visit the Ocean Spray website.
Cranberry nut pie
Ingredients
1-[1/4] cups Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
[1/4] cup brown sugar
[1/4] cup chopped walnuts
1 egg
[1/2] cup sugar
[1/2] cup flour
[1/3] cup butter or margarine, melted
Vanilla ice cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease a 9-inch pie plate.
Layer cranberries on bottom of pie plate. Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts. Beat egg in a medium mixing bowl until thick. Gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour and melted butter; blend well. Pour over cranberries.
Bake 45 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with ice cream. Makes 6 servings.
Cape Cod cornbread stuffing
Ingredients
2 cups cornbread stuffing cubes
[1/2] pound sausage meat, cooked, drained and crumbled
1 cup Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
[1/2] cup diced onion
[1/3] cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons thyme
[1/2] cup chicken broth
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Combine all ingredients, except chicken broth, in a medium casserole dish. Add chicken broth; mix well. Add more chicken broth for a moister stuffing. Cover and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through. Makes 3 cups.
Homemade whole berry cranberry sauce
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 12-ounce package Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, rinsed and drained
Directions
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time.
Makes 2-[1/4] cups.
