The scarlet berry: cranberry's one-night stand blossoms into long-term relationship with chefs from all segments

Nation's Restaurant News,  Sept 2, 2002  by Paul Frumkin

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Cranberries have held a special place in American culture for long time. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't seem quite the same without the requisite powl of cranberry sauce or cranberry relish competing for table space with the roast turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

Cranberries high-profile appearance in late November historically has marked their big one-night stand on the American culinary state, however, Beyond their half-hearted reprise around Christmas and use in several popular juices and juice blends, cranberries haven't had much luck breaking into other serious menu roles--until recently that is.

A growing number of chefs across the country have discovered that the tart, crimson-colored fruit is adaptable enough to appear in a wide range of preparations--from breakfast cereals and sandwiches to more elaborately crafted appetizers. Entrees and desserts.

French-born chef Bernard Guillas says he rarely had the opportunity to work with cranberries back in his native Brittany. "When we were able to get them, we cherished them," says Guillas, the executive chef at The Marine Room in La Jolla, Calif. "Then I came to America and began to use them a lot. I fell in love with them. They have great acidity, and they're very versatile."

Thought cranberries have found a new and enthusiastic reception in the more creative kitchens of contemporary America, they have been a part of the country's culture for hundreds of years. Indigenous to North America, cranberries were popular with Native Americans who are said to have used them for food, dyes and medicinal products. In the 16th century the Pilgrims who first colonized Massachusetts learned about cranberries from the resident American Indian tribes. Traditions suggest that they appeared in some form at the first Thanksgiving celebrations.

A close relative of the blueberry and high in vitamin C, the cranberry is a low-trailing vine that flourishes in layered beds of sand, peat, gravel and clay--generally known as "bogs." Cranberry cultivation in this country began in Massachusetts in the early 19th century and rapidly spread to other states.

Today cranberries also are cultivated in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. And while about 85 percent of al production is earmarked for beverages, cranberries increasingly are finding their way into professional kitchens, according to Chris Phillips a spokesman for Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. the giant grower co-operative based in Lakeville, Mass.

While frozen, dried and canned cranberries can be purchased throughout the year, fresh cranberries, are available only from late September through mid-January which is the time when they can be found on most restaurant menus. Tracy O'Grady, executive chef at Kinkead's in Washington, D.C., developed a late-season dish--cranberry-and-pecan crusted rack of pork--which manages to incorporate cranberries or cranberry products in three different ways.

O'Grady first brines a center-out rack of pork in cranberry juice and cranberry vodka overnight "to give it a more intense flavor." She says. The next day the rack is seared on both sides and then spread with a paste made of dried cranberries that have been rehydrated in a blender. The pork is topped with pecan bread crumbs a finished in the oven. It is served with a sauce prepared from ham hock stock fresh or frozen cranberries and Riesling. Priced at $24, the pork is accompanied with creamy potato gratin, wilted garlic spinach and savory apple tart.

San Domenico in New York has featured seared and sliced loin of yellowtail tuna with a marmaladelike cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, sugar, cranberry vinaigrette and virgin olive oil, according to chef de cuisine Nicolo Mersini. The dish, which sells for $25.50, is accompanied by fennel quenelles, poached quail eggs, chopped Gaeta olives, micro fennel and fresh cranberries for garnish.

Scott Campbell, chef and coowner of @QC in New York, observes that cranberries have become popular with many chefs because they "have great acidity [and] a flavor that keeps on going." He says he uses them in a number of different preparations, including grilled salmon with cranberry sauce infused with veal essence.

The sauce for the salmon includes a gastrique prepared with a fruity vinegar or red wine, sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon stick and cranberry compote. At service the gastrique is combined with veal essence and is strained and served with the grilled salmon and a few fresh cranberries for garnish. "You don't want to make it really sweet," Campbell advises.

In addition, Campbell prepares a cranberry compote with orange juice, brown sugar, bitters and fresh strawberries and spreads it on sandwiches that might include grilled chicken breast, fresh roast turkey or lamb.

Pret A Manger, the Londonbased fast-casual sandwich specialist that now operates 13 outlets in New York, also features cranberry sauce in one of its more popular sandwiches, the Turkey Lunch. Priced at $5.25, the sandwich includes turkey, bacon, spinach, red onion, mayonnaise and cranberry sauce on multigrain bread.