Blueberry Gathering In Iceland
By Gunnar Birgisson
In many countries all over the globe, whether in northern or southern hemispheres, Americas, Europe, Africa, or Asia, people have the sweet little luxury in life of being able to walk outside and simply pluck and eat fruit from trees. Just like that! Maybe a little bit of peeling for some fruit, but still a very simple process from branch to mouth in minimal time. Apples, oranges, bananas. And mangos!
Or you can pick up juicy berries – strawberries, raspberries - or even tasty vegetables (not many, but still, there are some nice tomatoes out there) and enjoy the sweet flavor while the juices run down your chin.
In Iceland we don't have that.
What does grow outside for human consumption? Not much. Some root vegetables like turnips. Barley. Potatoes. Stuff that needs to be cooked. Of course, greenhouses allow for cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, and more, but breaking into a corporation’s greenhouse to snatch a cucumber isn’t the kind of thrill we’re talking about.
But there's one big exception in this tale of woe. We do have blueberries. It's the only thing we can just grab and eat while loving the experience. And they are awesome.
They grow in patches that are hidden, here and there in hills and crevices. You may be out for a walk in August, following a babbling brook up a gentle hill. You sit down for a break and realize you are in the middle of a blueberry patch. You have stumbled upon a hidden treasure.
No matter anything else, whether you are alone or in a group, whether you have just started your hike or almost completed it, you immediately turn to picking and eating blueberries. Sometimes you pop one at a time into your mouth while greedily plucking the next one, and at other times you patiently pick a handful of them and toss the whole group into your mouth, savoring the explosion of flavor. Better than any mango!
Now, some Icelanders will grumble that this assertion is false, since there are indeed other berries to be found in Icelandic nature, in particular crowberries. Yes, indeed, you can eat these berries, but the pleasure in doing so is minimal. They are small and bitter. Some crowberries are just a bit too bitter, and others are even more bitter. The more you eat the less satisfied you are.
Other things you can eat if you have nothing better to do include rhubarb, which is very sour. And then there’s… never mind. There’s no point trying to create a list, because it’s all about the wonderful blueberries. We forage and eat them on the spot, and sometimes have a little surplus to put in a bucket to have at home with cream. It’s the real deal.
But if you see big buckets of blueberries in a store, look at the label. They're imported. The Icelandic ones are out there in the wilderness, waiting to be found.
