FORAGE: Serviceberries, Saskatoon, Shadberry…

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Serviceberries are one of the most delicious, easiest to forage wild foods, and if you live in Chicago, you don’t even have to leave the city to find them. They’re hardy native shrubs used commonly in public parks, if you know where to look. These sweet berries (Amelanchier sp.) are also known as Juneberries (because that’s when they ripen), shad berries (because the spring shad run in northern rivers coincides with their bloom), and saskatoon, among other names).

The flavor is similar to blueberry, with a nutty bitter almond crunch from the small edible seeds, and are sweetest when picked at a dusky purple-blue, although the less ripe red berries are still tart and sweet. I like picking at both stages- if you wait until they’re all dead ripe, the birds (and other bipeds) may have beat you to the fruit punch.

I like to enjoy them by the handful fresh off the bush, made into jams and sauces and canned, fresh frozen, and dried, as was traditional before modern food preservation techniques, before being turned into pemmican, the original Clif bar.

You can make your own pemmican, with dried berries, pounded or food processed shredded dry jerky (venison or beef will do if you can’t get catch a bison) and tallow or freshly rendered leaf lard will work if you don’t have any bear grease lying around (I wish…). Mix together and form into balls or bars, and store in the freezer for long-term snacking.

Or, if you aren’t hitting the trail any time soon, they make a fantastic compote with a quick pan sauce to serve over seared venison backstrap. YUM, man.