P . 18 | JULY 2022 | THE HAMMONTONIAN
Enjoying the town ’ s most famous fruit : The blueberry
BLUEBERRY , from P . 17 fullypacked pallets . They leave the berries right in the clamshells and put them right in their big walk-in freezer ,” Mento said .
Additionally , Mento said , many consumers utilize fresh berries , or freshfrozen , like Dondero ’ s does , when making jam — his wife Kathy included .
“ My wife makes fantastic blueberry jam . Some of our friends or old customers call it ‘ blueberry pie in a jar ,’” Mento said .
Mortellite said that many farms , like theirs , freeze berries on premises as another way to market their crop .
“ We put 30 pounds into a frozen box , tape it up and move them all over ... They can sit in the freezer for a year , year-and-a-half and they ’ re still going to be good . My mom always has a 30- pound box in the freezer , and she ’ ll use that for her smoothies every day ,” Mortellite said .
Art Galletta , the president of Atlantic Blueberry Company , said that their farm also freezes berries , though they no longer do the actual processing onsite .
“ We used to IQF [ Individual Quick Freezing ] them right here on location , but they ’ re too seasonal to make it worth it . Now we send them to our processor , and they charge us more or less what it costs us to do it ourselves
with the berry , if it ’ s character , if it ’ s soft , if it ’ s green or if it ’ s stemmy . Stems don ’ t even bother frozen , because they can break the stems off after they ’ re frozen . They ’ ll take a lot of berries that you wouldn ’ t consider good for the fresh market , and they can make a really decent product out of it ,” Galletta said .
Galletta said that Atlantic Blueberry Company belongs to a cooperative which allows their processor to sell the frozen berries to a variety of customers for a number of uses .
“ There ’ s a lot of poly-bagging for those who carry them in freezer cases . They go in muffins , they go in yogurt , they can make concentrates that can be used for cran-blueberry juice . There ’ s a ton of uses for them ,” Galletta said .
Additionally , blueberries can also be sold for juice bases .
“ They ’ ll go to wineries and places like that to make wine ,” Mortellite said . Galletta echoed his sentiments . “ We have a couple of wineries that pick up berries here . There ’ s a guy who makes beer , a guy who makes cider , they ’ ll pick up berries here — but the vast majority gets sent to the processor , and they ’ ll freeze them up and get them concentrated ,” Galletta said .
Galletta said that these berries are typically cast-offs from the machines that sort out soft berries as well as
berries that are too red or green .
“ The juice stock is a lower grade ; you don ’ t get as much money for it , but they get a concentrate and can do a lot of things with it . The green berries that are mixed in don ’ t really bother the Brix [ sugar content ]; as long as they get the Brix up to 65 after they concentrate it , it ’ s fine ... As long as they ’ re 80 percent blue , they ’ ll make juice stock . If they ’ re all green , we put them in the dumpster ,” Galletta said .
Mento said that using blueberries as a base for libations is “ one of his favorite uses .”
“ My very good friend , Sal Genovese , uses the blueberries to make blueberry cello . I have to say , it ’ s some good stuff . It really is delicious — and potent as well ... I also make a blueberry wine . I ’ ve found that you really can ’ t go 100 percent blueberry , but I have a nice mix with Pinot Grigio . It ’ s about a two-toone grape to blueberry ratio , and it ’ s fantastic ,” Mento said .
Mortellite said that fresh or frozen , in juice or in jam , blueberries are “ something that goes with everything .”
“ They ’ re something that fits in any part of the day ,” Mortellite said .
SAM MENTO III , OWNER OF SAM MENTO FARMS , STANDS WITH HIS SON , SAMUEL T . MENTO , BEHIND A PALLET OF FRESH-FROM- THE-FIELD BLUEBERRIES .
with all the overhead , then we don ’ t have to worry about our equipment ,” Galletta said .
Galletta said that the amount of berries that are processed to be frozen varies from one season to the next .
“ It depends on the quality of the fruit , how much rain you get and everything else . Anything that can be packed fresh is packed fresh ; if the quality starts running out — particularly towards the end of some of the varieties — they go to the frozen market . So , the percentage can vary from 10 percent to 35 percent , depending on the year ,” Galletta said .
Often , Galletta said , many of the berries that are frozen would be considered Grade A but other factors keep them from being fresh-packed .
“ It depends on what ’ s wrong
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