Salal berry

Gaultheria shallon · Berry

40 pairings

The salal berry is the small, dusky blue-black fruit of Gaultheria shallon, a sprawling evergreen shrub of the Pacific Northwest understorey and a member of the heath family (Ericaceae). Mealy, mildly sweet and faintly resinous-aromatic, it was a staple fruit of the region's Indigenous peoples and is still gathered for jam, syrup, wine and fresh eating.

Picking a good onedrag

Matte black and plumpWeeping or fermenting

Black and softeningThe ordinary good punnet, safe to eat as it is. Rinse and dry it, this being wild fruit, then jam, syrup, pie or wine, where the seediness stops mattering.Everyday best

ColourBlack but dulling, a few still carrying a red shoulder

SqueezeSoft, dents under the thumb and eases most of the way back

Stalk and scarScar dry, a few short red stalks loose in the box

SmellAlmost nothing — a quiet fruit, and that is normal

What to look for, from matte black and plump to weeping or fermenting.

Preparing