WSU researcher works with chefs, growers, foodies to identify marketable berries

Think back to that last handful of raspberries you ate. What made them memorable?

Maybe their tartness puckered your mouth in delight, or the seeds crunched between your teeth just right. Or maybe they were fat, fragrant, sweet enough to make you marvel aloud how anything could taste so good.

Some say a raspberry is a raspberry is a raspberry. But to berry aficionados, the distinctions between local varieties like Meeker (petite and tart) and Tulameen (big and bold) can be as stark as spring and fall.

As palates everywhere grow ever more attuned to subtle differences in flavor, some purveyors and restaurateurs are responding with wider varieties of produce — at the market and on the dinner table — in an attempt to stand out from competitors.

The desire to discover great raspberries found a group of chefs, grocers and local foodies sampling cupful after plastic cupful earlier this month at Washington State University's research center in Puyallup, taking notes as researcher Patrick Moore describes the lineage behind each mouthful.

WSU has bred raspberries, strawberries and other fruit at R.L. Goss research farm since 1928, in a fertile valley where Mount Rainier towers above a nearby field of waving dandelions. Eleven raspberry varieties have their roots here, including Meeker in 1967 and a series of Cascades (Nectar, Delight, Dawn and Bounty) in this decade.

While the farm's primary goal is to develop varieties that serve the needs of major producers, Moore has begun working with chefs, home gardeners and others to learn what they like in a berry and to show them what's available. Earlier this summer, a similar group sampled strawberries, exclaiming over local varieties they hadn't tasted before.

Knowing what's growing out there helps them make better shopping decisions, said Aaron Wright, executive chef at Seattle's Canlis restaurant.

"It's entertaining. It's a brand new experience and good to share with guests," he said.

Produce specialist Ed Laster wants berries Metropolitan Market shoppers would love to take home. Wright wants to know which work best puréed in cocktails versus whole atop desserts. Chef Ethan Stowell wonders which brambles to plant if he starts a farm to supply his Seattle restaurants, Union and Tavolata.

Sometimes the range of flavors available locally surprises even them.

"I would never know how distinct they are without having them all in front of me like this," said Ryan Tateishi, purchasing manager at Canlis.

There's Cascade Bounty (firm). Cascade Dawn (fat and translucent). Esquimalt (jammy) and WSU 1126 (like pomegranate seeds, Wright says). Others prompt descriptions similar to those used for wine.

They trigger memories of flavorful raspberries long past, like the ones Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance director Chris Curtis grew up picking in the Skagit Valley. Those were different, she insists, from those trucked into supermarkets, mostly from California, the nation's top raspberry producer (Washington is second with 44 percent of the overall crop).

They're probably right, Moore, the researcher, says. Large raspberry farms must consider many factors beyond flavor, aroma and texture, such as berries more tolerant of machine harvesting, long-distance transport and able to resist ailments like root rot.

But flavor is gaining ground in importance.

The recent explosion of farmers markets, specialty grocers and Food Network chefs extolling the virtues of heirloom produce is boosting interest in variety. Curtis says she's noticed more vendors at farmers markets labeling berries and other fruit so customers can ask for favorites by name. For years, mainstream supermarket produce sections set the standard for how raspberries, apples and other fruit were "supposed" to taste. Apple choices, for instance, were limited mainly to red, yellow or green. Now the options — Braeburn, Pacific Rose, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Gravenstein — can be overwhelming.

Tastes will continue to change. And Moore and his team with the small fruit breeding and genetics program intend to keep developing new berry cultivars.

Like Willamette (compact and fairly seedless). And Coho (tart and dusky red).

"I try and come up with names you can spell. At least, if you're from here," he jokes.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com