Flavors Flavors (July 23, 2004)

Blackberry Season

By Robert Rich

Midsummer each year, the wild blackberries ripen along our roadsides, dry creek beds and open spaces. Joggers along Stevens Creek Trail stop for purple-fingered treats while trying to avoid thorny brambles.

Most of these large berry patches consist of non-native European blackberries. The California native species has smaller canes and berries, with less aggressive thorns. Occasionally, I find the native species intermingled or possibly hybridized with the European. The native plants provide smaller fruit, and I avoid picking these to help protect them.

During these weeks, I try to slip away for an hour or two, with a small bucket, torn jeans and a worn leather jacket. The heavy clothes get hot on July afternoons, but they allow me to worm my way through brambles without losing too much blood.

Returning triumphant with hard-won wild fruit, I like to prepare this blackberry Zinfandel sorbet for my friends:

Simmer one gallon of washed berries with about one cup sugar (to taste) for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally until reduced by half. Let cool, then squeeze through cheesecloth, or press through a colander, to remove seeds.

This should be enough for about 8-10 cups of syrup, or two batches of sorbet. Refrigerate the syrup, and discard the seeds. You can also freeze this syrup for up to a year, in tightly sealed containers.

In a saucepan, combine a 1/2 cup sugar with one bottle of red Zinfandel wine. Simmer until reduced to around two cups, about 30 minutes. Boiling removes all the alcohol from the wine. Use a good cheap Zin like Bogle Old Vines ($10) or Cline California ($8.) Refrigerate after reducing.

In a chilled ice-cream maker, combine one part (2 cups) reduced wine with two parts (4 cups) berry syrup, and turn until frozen. My ice-cream maker holds a total of 6 cups of liquid, which uses all of the reduced wine and half of the berry syrup described above.

The resulting sorbet tastes intense, like the essence of berry deepened by Zinfandel's earthy spices. The texture is best when served immediately, or within a few hours after returning to the freezer. One batch of sorbet makes roughly 8 servings.

E-mail Robert Rich at flavors@rrich.com

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