Cloud Berries
Cloud berries are called ‘molter’ in Norwegian. They are little puffs of fruity-flesh, similar to raspberries, with a sweet and sour tang. Usually eaten with just whipped cream, they can also be used with cakes, on bread, and as a jam.
Cloud berries are found in swamp areas in Northern Scandinavia. They are not farmed, so grow wild and need to be hand picked as their flesh is very delicate. In fact, you don’t wash cloud berries as their juice will wash away in the water.
When Moose was a child, the family used to travel to the swamp areas up in the mountains to pick cloud berries. Sometimes they would camp for days to gather enough berries for all the lovely cakes and creams Farmor would be making that year. It is hard work picking cloud berries – crouching over swampy marshes with buckets, delicately plucking the berries as not to squish them all the while swatting away the monster mosquitoes. The thing that makes cloud berries so good is all the hard work that goes into getting them.
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I have cloudberry jam that I purchased at IKEA in Arizona. I love it!
I remember hearing that name molter though from my grandmother.
I love visiting you!
Debbie
moltebaer. Yum.
vi hadde moltebaer med krem til aa spise ofte hos farmor.
I don’t recall these berries being available when growing up on Tysnes, near Bergen. We did pick blueberries and ‘tyttebaer’ which grew wild. They were quite plentiful and my mother would make many jars of jam every year. I think that ‘tyttebaer’ is what we can buy in the U.S. as Lyngenberries, usually imported from the Scandinavian countries. Tastes somewhat like cranberries, popular at Thanksgiving and Christmas time.
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from L-Jay:
cloud berries mainly grow above the Arctic circle in Norway. They need a cloud climate, I guess because in the warmth the birds would gobble them up before they had a chance to grow…lol.
Oh yes, moltebaer!!!! I love these!!! I am planting golden raspberries this year in the hopes that they taste just a little bit like molter!
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from L-Jay:
Ah, never heard of golden raspberries before.
I guess I’ll be shopping at IKEA since I don’t know of any cloud berries in North Dakota.
oh interesting, I only knew cloudberries by the swedish name, Hjorton I believe.
I was in Norway last summer. We visited Husky and there were clod berries growing wild there. Unfortunately they weren’t ready for picking. My mother in law had them growing wild near her cabin which she had now sold. Luckily she had some frozen and we were able to try them. With cream they were delicious. By themselves they are quit tart. My son did not like the texture. But they are hard to find since they are grown wild. I’d love to have some now!
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from L-Jay:
If you live in Norway you can buy them frozen from the store.