My first experience with cranberries came in the form of the ubiquitous can of jellied cranberry sauce that my Mother decanted twice each year—once at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas. I was much too picky an eater to try it, but I loved to watch it slither out of the can with the can’s imprint upon it’s jelly body. I had no idea that one could also buy canned whole berry cranberry sauce as my family always went for the jellied version.
It would be years later that I would discover that cranberries were actually sold whole and fresh in bags and one could make their own cranberry sauce (we make a delicious relish using a recipe from our daughter) or even use it in other recipes like cranberry-apple crunch.
Even though Ocean Spray produced their first commercial cranberry juice in 1930, I don’t remember seeing the juice in Southern stores until the 1960’s (but maybe I wasn’t looking). Now there is a plethora of juice drinks incorporating cranberry juice as a component. I will attest that there is no better cure and comfort for a urinary tract infection than copious consumption of Cranberry Juice Cocktail.
Each year, Ocean Spray facilities produce about 88 million cans of cranberry sauce and 223 million bottles of juice. Keep in mind that Ocean Spray is far from being the only source of cranberries in Massachusetts. There are several bogs that use organic farming and I always buy bags of organic dried cranberries when we visit our daughter. I think craisins have overtaken the raisin market for all ages.
But back to the cranberry itself and where it comes from. When our daughter moved to Massachusetts we noticed these beautiful pinkish-red “ponds”—only they aren’t ponds but bogs. We discovered that there are around 1,000 cranberry farms in the United States and over 400 of those farms are in Massachusetts.
I love how the bogs look and have always wanted to be in Massachusetts in harvest season. This October that little dream may come true. I would be totally thrilled to find myself driving behind a dump truck overflowing with a harvest of those beautiful red berries.
I learned from Tripsavvy that the pilgrims are credited with discovering cranberries which were growing in bogs near their Plymouth, Massachussetts home. Of course it was their indigenous American Indian neighbors who were already using cranberries when white settlers arrived and who taught those who landed on their shores how to use cranberries for food, medicine and even a natural dye. Now cranberries are grown commercially but there are also some small farms that produce cranberries and even a few very small personal cranberry bogs.
There are only three fruits that are native to North America: blueberries, Concord grapes and yes, cranberries. Their name comes because their spring blossoms look like the shape of a crane’s head and beak—thus, “crane-berries.”
We will be in Massachusetts in October and I will post again on my blog about our cranberry bog experience. You can keep up with the bog on the blog…
And here is our daughter’s recipe for Cranberry Orange Relish. Prep time: 20 minutes Makes 12 servings
1 package (12 ounces) fresh cranberries 1 medium orange 1 Cup (or less) sugar
(1) Cut orange into wedges and remove the seeds.
(2) Pour half of the cranberries and half of the orange wedges into a food processor.
(3) Cover and blend until chopped.
(4) Repeat with the other half of the cranberries and orange slices.
(5) Cook chopped cranberries and orange slices in a medium saucepan with the sugar for 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat until heated through.
Serve warm or chilled.
Thanks for the cranberry relish recipe. I like a cranberry relish or cranberries but
don’t care for the sauce. I knew Massachusetts was known for the production of cranberries, as one of my sister in laws is from Mass. Enjoy your visit and be safe.
I LOVE this about crane-berries! So informative and I, too, never knew anything other than jellied sauce existed for a long time! Enjoy your trip.