That is to say this rare Arctic berry has become somewhat of an obsession for me and I´ve spent a disproportionate amount of time and money trying to track it down. 

Photo by My Little Norway

These delicate berries, in season for barely three weeks, can only be hand-picked from the swamps of the Northern Skandinavian countries. Such remote and enigmatic locations are often a closely guarded family secret, passed down through generations.

I remember exactly when my obsession with cloudberries began. It was mid-2007 and I began working in London´s Soho, next door to a café called Nordic Bakery. It was a treasure trove of Skandi goods, from piping hot cinnamon buns to gravlax on rye.

This is where I first picked up a jar of cloudberry jam (hjortronsylt) and from the first spoonful I was hooked. At £5 a jar it was an expensive habit (but surely cheaper than crack?), especially when you consider my penchant for eating it straight from the jar.

I dreamt about eating the berries fresh but was never in the right place at the right time.
Until this July when my trip to Helsinki was perfectly timed with a burst of hot weather and all the other necessary conditions for a stellar cloudberry harvest.

€12 for a small box seemed a bargain to try this prized berry and I sat happily in the grass outside the Hakaniemi Market Hall with my bemused Swedish friend Joakim, savouring them one by one.

The taste is unlike any other berry you´ve tried, each golden yellow nugget revealing sweet hints of pineapple and passionfruit.

Swedish cheesecake served with cloudberries and ice cream

Dessert menus in Sweden almost always feature cloudberries, often as a topping for ice cream, cakes or waffles. In Finland and Norway, cloudberries are usually eaten with cream and sugar. 

One day I will dedicate my summer to picking these glorious berries – who´s with me??