Bilberry, the European blueberry

Bilberry, also known as the European blueberry is a relative of the North American blueberry. They both belong to the same genus, Vaccinium, and on the outside they look somewhat similar but they have great differences.

In their appearance, bilberries are typically much smaller than blueberries and if you cut (or bite) them open, you'll see the difference. Bilberries are red on the inside, while blueberries are more white-green colored. Bilberries can very easily stain clothes, while blueberries are much safer for the clothes in general.

_{Never let your kids eat bilberries on your couch, never! Don't eat them on the sofa even yourself.}

Bilberries are at their best in Finland right now, in the end of the summer. Bilberries have not been as respected as lingonberries have been, as lingonberries stayed good for longer while bilberries required more work to be preserved as jam or in other forms. Lingonberries could be easily mashed with a small amount of sugar and it could stay good for far longer than bilberries.

However, nowdays bilberries are far more respected. They contain high amounts of anthocyanines and other antioxidants, even compared to many other berries. Even though bilberries contain natural sugars, those who are afraid of carbs have no need to worry. Picking these berries is so much work you'll need all the berries you can find.

The best way to carry around bilberries are to put them in your mouth and eat them, then carry them in your stomach anywhere you want to go to. Other good forms of transportation are either to bake them into pies or freeze them, so you can enjoy bilberries through the whole winter.

Though if you are going to cook jam or juice from the bilberries, you should take something in consideration. Prefer methods of cooking jam which require shorter cooking time to reduce the loss of antioxidants. Jam is better option than juice, as when you are making some juice, you'll usually throw away the skin of the berry which contains ingredients beneficial to health.

_{Eat your berries!}