Beautiful, delicious and our very own mountain’s summer fruit. The blueberry, a delight on the palate, very fine indeed if eaten alongside a quality ice cream, but totally amazing when taken straight from the little plant, one by one, with hands that turnn purple and a mouth that simply won’t say stop!
The wild blueberry or Vaccinium myrtillus, is widespread along the Alpine arc and can be found at altitudes of up to 2000m. Its preferred habitat is woodland, mountain pastures or wild scrubland alongside other species, such as rhododendron. In Valle Spluga, traditionally, harvesting – permitted only using bare hands – kicks off on saint Anna’s day, 26th July.
The differences between wild and cultivated blueberries are essentially two: the size - the wild one is smaller, and hence more difficult to collect - and the colour of the pulp, clear in the cultivated example and purple in the mountain version. And it’s precisely the juice released from the pulp that turns ones hands purple. Blueberry, rich in vitamins A and C, is known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory properties, and helps in the treatment of ailments associated with thecardiovscular system.
There is though a further type of blueberry, the red one, whose berries are employed in jams and jellies, whilst the leaves can be dried and used as infusions with diuretic potency.
Coming across nestles of small blueberry plants at Madesimo is relatively easy, especially if you are heading on foot around the valley bottom, in the woods moving up to Motta and on Alpe Groppera, maybe even getting there by cable car. Get stuck in, hands dirty, then enjoy the fruit from its very source whilst breathing in the scent of the earth with Nature all around. A vital summer experience. And of course use the (uneaten) harvest to produce the exceptional “Madesimo cake” made with walnuts, buckwheat flour and of course our delicious Alpine purple friends.
