Recipe for haskap berries from Nova Scotia

Stuart Forster introduces a recipe featuring grilled aubergine, mozzarella cheese and haskap berries from Nova Scotia, Canada.

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One of the key reasons I love travelling is that it provides opportunities to explore the flavours of a destination and its cuisine. That means eating in restaurants, trying local snacks and looking for products I don’t see in shops and markets back home.

Recently, while driving in Nova Scotia, Canada, my guide, Pam, pointed out a field with neatly arranged rows of bushes, about waist high. “Over there is a farm growing haskap berries,” she uttered.

“Has-what berries?” was my response. I’d never previously heard of haskap berries.

Haskap berry benefits

Pam explained that haskap berries originate from Siberia and thrived on Japan’s northerly Hokkaido island, the location of the world’s first commercial haskap farming. Farmers in Canada realised the climate and terroir of parts of Nova Scotia are also well suited to growing haskap. The berry is still being cultivated on a relatively small scale but, apparently, there’s excitement that things could be set to take off.

Some people believe the berries will prove ‘the next big thing’ in terms of healthy eating. At the 2013 World Juice Awards haskap was named ‘Best New Juice’. Articles published by Runners World magazine and The Independent highlight research undertaken at Northumbria University that suggests consuming haskap juice can enhance the distance runners’ performances by two per cent.

Haskap is regarded as a superfruit due to the fruit’s high levels of antioxidants. The berries – which are blue and grow to around an inch long – contain high levels of vitamin C, phenolic compounds and anthocyanins. (They are available from Amazon in the format of  haskap berry powder format.)

Haskap berry juice

A life-size cut-out of Jamie Oliver greeted us at the Sobeys supermarket that we popped in to buy a bottle of haskap berry juice. The British chef has a partnership with the Canadian supermarket chain to promote eating healthily.

I couldn’t help glancing up at banners bearing his image, hanging from the ceiling, as we looked for the supermarket’s Taste of Nova Scotia stand, which showcases products from the province.

Rather than buying just a bottle of the juice, I eventually picked up a box entitled the Haskap experience, holding a 150-millilitre bottle of juice, two ounces of jam and 50 grams of dried berries. The packaging showed the measurements as I’ve written them – a mixture of metric and imperial.

The juice and dried berries are dark blue in colour. I found their flavour pleasantly tangy. It made me think of a combination of blueberries, blackberries and cranberries.

Would I seek out the juice again? Yes. I look forward to seeing it on the shelves of stores in the United Kingdom.

Grilled aubergine with haskap berries and mozzarella

I came up with the following recipe for using haskap berries. It may be slightly unusual to use fruit in what is essentially a savoury dish, but the combination proved delicious.

Ingredients

One aubergine (alternatively known as eggplant)

Mozzarella cheese (150 grams)

Haskap berries (30 grams)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Cut the aubergine into slices about one centimetre thick.
2. Brush the aubergine with olive oil. Work quickly to avoid it soaking into the aubergine’s flesh.
3. Place the aubergine slices with the oiled side up under a hot grill and cook until golden (about four 4 minutes).
4. Turn the aubergine slices and grill for a further couple of minutes.
5. Season the aubergine with salt and pepper.
6. Add slices of mozzarella. Top with haskap berries. Replace under the grill until the cheese has melted.
7. Serve while warm, either alone or with an accompanying salad.

Haskap recipe ideas

You can find further recipe ideas in The Little Prairie Book of Berries by Sheryl Normandeau.

Travel to Nova Scotia

I flew from Gatwick Airport to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Icelandair. The journey included a stop at the airline’s hub at Keflavik Airport, an hour’s bus ride from Reykjavík.

Air Canada operates direct flights between London Heathrow and Halifax Stanfield International Airport. WestJet flies between London Gatwick and Halifax via Toronto.

Map of Nova Scotia

The Annapolis Valley is the principal fruit-producing region in Nova Scotia. Zoom out of this map to see more of the region and province:

Hotels in the Annapolis Valley

Find and book accommodation in the Annapolis Valley and elsewhere in Nova Scotia using the map below:

Further information

Discover more about haskap berries and haskap products on the Haskapa website.

Discover more about the Canadian province where haskap berries are being produced by visiting  Tourism Nova Scotia website. And for more information about the wider country, see the Destination Canada website.

Stuart Forster, the author of this post, is a frequent visitor to Canada. He has written about Canada for Wanderlust, The Mail on Sunday and Selling Travel.

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A version of this post was initially published on Go Eat Do on 10 August 2015.