Crumble or Pastry?

How do you like your bilberries? I'm now on my second bilberry pie of the season, though the latest one was more properly a crumble. Usually, however they're cooked, mine are combined with Bramley Apples. There's lots to debate about how you deal with a glut of the fruit and 2016 is the best of recent years.

One question that comes up regularly is "Where do you get the best specimens, in the woods or in the open?" This photo is taken in a very small clearing amid birch trees.

There's definitely a difference. They are darker and there is less foliage, making the picker's job easier. Those who insist that eating raw straight off the bush is the only way may also decide that the flavour is richer and rounder.