Description
Bilberries are small berries about the size of a pea, black and covered with a thin layer of bluish bloom.

In the language of flowers, myrtle is a sign that one is seeking solitude. In Europe, depending on the temperature and the number of warm sunny days, the gathering of bilberries takes place about mid-July and continues until the end of August. European pickers use a short-handled comb with long, curbed metallic teeth, which allows the picker to gather the fruit more quickly.

Nutritional values per 100 g
Calories: 60; Water: 83%; Carbohydrates: 14 g; Fat: 0.4 g; Protein: 0.7 g.
Rich in minerals, and vitamins C and E.

Buying bilberries
They should be round, firm and have a frosted appearance.

Storage
Unwashed, they will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.
They can be frozen once washed and dried to be used in recipes later on.

Cooking tips
Bilberries are perfect for tarts and pies, puddings, cakes or clafoutis, for adding to muffins and doughnuts, or making into syrups, sorbet, jelly and liqueurs.

Suggestions

• Serve on a pool of vanilla custard.
• Serve warmed around duck breast.
• As a mousse: 750 g of bilberry pulp, 25 g leaf gelatin, 25 g lemon juice, 450 g whipped cream; serve on Italian meringue.
• Fresh white cheese with bilberries: beat together 50 g white fresh cheese, 50 g bilberries, 1 tbsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. yogurt, 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• Pudding - Cream 125 g butter with 100 g sugar. Add 2 eggs, 160 g flour, 2 tbsp. milk, a pinch of salt, and 1 tbsp. baking powder. Place the berries, tossed with sugar, in the bottom of a buttered dish. Pour the batter over top. Cover with aluminum foil and cook 1 hour in a bain-marie.
• Use to make a chutney with ginger, black pepper and orange zest.

The Worldwide Gourmet
Ardennes - the famous tcha-tcha (fresh bilberries crushed with sugar) is spread on buttered bread.

Alsace - bilberry pie - line a dish with pie pastry, place a layer of crushed cookie crumbs over top and 500 g bilberries. Bake for 20 minutes. Beat 200 g sugar, 2 whole eggs and 100 ml crème fraîche. Pour over the fruit and bake another 15 minutes.

Sweden - bilberry pancakes - Prepare some thin pancakes. Cover with bilberries cooked in their syrup.

United States - use in a salad with chicken breasts, pears and a yogurt dressing with pepper, thinned with bilberry juice and a little honey or oil and balsamic vinegar.