Edit: I’m so embarrassed! I wrote a whole post on aronias only to discover that I was talking about the wrong berry! The berries we picked were actually Empetrum nigrum, or crowberries, and not Aronia melanocarpa or aronias/chokeberries! I made some changes to the original post.

On one of our berry-picking outings in Finland this past summer, we noticed that there were tons of these dark, almost-black berries that looked kinda similar to blueberries but weren’t. They were firmer than blueberries and had a more bland, slightly acidic taste, with crunchy little seeds. J knew that they were useful for something, and since they were so easy to pick, he picked a LOT.

When we got back to J’s parents’ place, his parents looked at our bounty. “Variksenmarjat,” his mother said. “What are you going to do with those?” We confessed that we actually didn’t know– what can one do with these berries? J’s mother said they’re not really good for eating but you can make a decent juice out of them, but even she didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about them. So we had this pile of berries that don’t taste that great and that we had no idea what to do with– is it any surprise that I made room in my suitcase for four containers of blueberries, but the poor variksenmarjat stayed behind? I don’t even have a picture from when we picked them– that’s how unremarkable they were. (I also didn’t mention them when I blogged about the trip!).

But soon after I returned to Estonia, I began noticing things on the internet. “Aronias are in season.” What are aronias? I wondered. I found a picture of them. Hmm… they looked familiar. What else? “Aronias, also called chokeberries, are the new superfood.” “Aronias are packed with antioxidants.” Since the photos I was seeing on the internet reminded me of the berries we’ve found in Finland, I mistakenly thought our variksenmarjat were, in fact, aronias. That made me pretty excited– these berries apparently have one of the highest antioxidant levels ever recorded– more than blueberries or pomegranates — and can help with a host of medical conditions. They also contains the highest concentration of flavonoids, which help the body fight off viruses and allergies. I did an old-school movie forehead slap– did we seriously leave a bucket full of hand-picked, antioxidant-rich superfood in Finland?? Noooooo!!

Crowberries– not aronias!

Then J’s parents came to visit us, and without us even asking, they brought the berries with them! (They’d been frozen, and J’s parents are experts at transporting frozen goods, seriously). I had to scramble to make enough room in our freezer, but still, I was thrilled that we’d gotten them back! But the question still remained– what to do with them?

Of course by now my excitement has worn off, as it was pointed out that our bounty isn’t aronias at all . Bummer! But now I have to ask– anybody know what to do with crowberries?