facts & folklore
The cranberry is one of only three native American fruits (blueberries and Concord grapes being the others).
The cranberry gets its name from early Dutch and German settlers in America who called it the "crane berry" as the late Spring blooms resemble the head and bill of the crane. Over time, the name was shortened to cranberry.
The American Indians used cranberries to make a survival cake called "pemmican", - a combination of dried deer meat, cranberries and melted fat.
The Indians also attributed medical properties to the cranberry. Medicine men brewed cranberry poultices to draw poison from arrow wounds.
Squaws made their rugs and blankets colourful with the stain of the red cranberry juice.
Indians presented cranberries to the Pilgrims as a welcoming present, and taught them how to use them in their cooking. Cranberries, along with native turkeys and corn, were essential foods for the Pilgrims, particularly during their first year in the New World, until their first crops were harvested. For this reason, cranberries were served at the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and continue to be an integral part of the annual American Thanksgiving feast.
American clipper ships and whaling boats carried cranberries stored in barrels of cold water to serve to the crew as the Vitamin C they contained helped to prevent scurvy - just as the English used limes. The cranberries were able to keep fresh over long periods of time because of their natural waxy coating which allowed them to store well. During World War ll the American troops consumed one million pounds of cranberries because of their health benefits.
The revelation, that only firm fruit bounce, was made by a grower called "Peg-Leg Pete". Having difficulty negotiating a flight of stairs, Pete dropped the case of berries he was carrying. To his amazement he discovered that the best berries bounced down the stairs. To this day, Ocean Spray® still selects its berries by bouncing them up to seven times.
This discovery led to the development of a machine to force the cranberry to bounce - the first cranberry separator. Cranberry separators are now used as an important step in grading cranberries easily, separating the quality fruit from poorer berries. Today this process continues to allow Ocean Spray® to identify the highest quality fruit.
