Cranberial Index

Cranberries! I hate the [darn] things. Now in a cruel twist of fate, I have been assigned to bring the cranberry dish for Thanksgiving. What else is there besides relish? - Crantankerous

If providence gives you cranberries, make cranberryayde – No really, it was a drink served in the 18th Century, probably similar to our own cranberry juice. Plus drinking cranberries may be the most palatable way to consume the berry. A Cosmopolitan might be the best cranberry dish you can bring, even with all the inherent liabilities that come with drinking hard alcohol in close quarters with family members you don’t see often (possibly for good reason).

There are 150 different varieties of cranberry in existence but 4 – Early Black, Howes, Searles and McFarlin rule the market. Although somewhere on the web, someone is hawking heirloom cranberries, don’t believe the hype, according to experts the flavor differences between the varieties are indistinguishable. Cranberries have been one of the few crops to survive the breeders desire to make a sweeter, more palatable fruit. Only limes and lemon top cranberries acidity in the fruit world – which is great if you have a touch of the scurvy. Most of the crop is processed – juice and canned berries being the most common destination for the berries.

My all-time favorite Thanksgiving dish for the little red fruit was cranberry sorbet. Served after the heavy Turkey-stuffing-taters-bacon sprouts-gravy main course, the sorbet was sweet and cold, a palate cleanser for the salty, rich foods that had just passed. And while I might have liked it, that approval was far from universal - Thanksgiving isn’t the best day for trying new foods – experience has painfully reinforced that people don’t like straying too far from the familiar dishes, even if they don’t like them and won’t eat them. Well that and you really can’t serve sorbet buffet style.

There is Susan Stamberg's famous (famous for Public Radio anyway) Cranberry-Horseradish Relish. It is the most unique relish available legally. Just as horseradish goes well with roasted meats, the flavors from this preparation lend themselves to roast turkey extremely well (and turkey sandwiches even better). On the downside, the recipe produces a shade of pink that is visually halting. You could add whole cranberries to the stuffing, which considering your assignment doesn’t sound like that is an option. Or there is always wild rice salad/pilaf with leeks, toasted pecans and cranberries. Baking shallots and cranberries in an open roasting pan with cranberry juice would work. If you can’t arrange the oven time - Caramelized pearl onions with cranberries could be done on the stovetop. If you can go sweet, there is cranberry cheesecake, cranberries baked into shortbread & topped with orange curd or pears poached in sweetened cranberry juice – a dessert that can please a vegan when nothing else on the Thanksgiving table will.

On a different day combining cranberry relish and mustard to the outside of the ham before an hours long baking would be delicious. The cranberry brain trust has spent time promoting their crop as something other than a once a year treat (ideas here). Just what you want - the chance to eat something you don’t like all year. For the big day you might be stuck delivering what your host asked for – the recipe on the back of the package works well, the addition of brandy, particularly an orange brandy like Cointreau or Grand Mariner helps round out the flavors. Best of all you don’t have to worry about what to do with the leftovers.