Roger White from Somerset Local Food Direct raves about raspberries – one of summer’s fantastic ingredients…
Raspberries are everyone’s favourite summer soft fruit, eaten just picked from the cane, turned into juices, added to fruit salads, made into wine or included in a host of recipes. Raspberries contain more vitamin C than oranges, are super high in fibre, low in calories and supply you with a good dose of folic acid. In short, they are very good for you.
The overwhelming majority of raspberries sold in the UK are grown in Scotland (especially in Tayside), where the long summer days help to produce the most delicious berries. But our own Cheddar Valley growers such as Cliff Besley produce some wonderful fruit too. Raspberries have a long history and were popular with the Romans and have probably been eaten since prehistoric times.
Unlike many fruits, unripe raspberries do not ripen after they have been picked. This means they have a comparatively short shelf life and are best used as close to picking as possible. They are wonderful sprinkled on to breakfast cereal, added to fruit salads, or baked into a chocolate brownie or a cheesecake. But they can be frozen, mixed with ice cream perhaps, or used for jam and smoothies.
Summer-fruiting raspberries will fruit between June and early August, depending on specific varieties. They are of the floricane type of plant which have stems that grow for one year before bearing fruit and flowers.
Autumn-fruiting raspberries are generally primocane plants which produce flowers and fruit on stems grown in the same year and can be harvested between August and October.
Cliff Besley in Cheddar grows the autumn-fruiting variety Polka, which has a clean and fruity flavour, with a deep aroma and with an excellent shelf life. He can be found at many of the Farmers Markets in the area.