Cloudberry

cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus, one of the most delicious of all berries and one of the most costly, since it is confined to the northern regions of Europe and N. America and can be gathered in limited quantities only. In N. Scandinavia, where Finland, Sweden, and Norway meet, and the cloudberry thrives, the inhabitants of these peace-loving countries have been known to engage in ‘cloudberry wars’; and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs maintains, or used to have, a special section for cloudberry diplomacy. In northern N. America, where the fruit may also be called the baked-apple berry or just ‘bake-apple’, it is not so highly esteemed, but is nonetheless a prized item. The berries are red when nearly ripe, and golden with a tinge of orange when ripe, and soft and juicy. They keep very well because of their high content of benzoic acid.