Look for plump, shiny, firm berries.

Refrigerate unwashed for up to two months, or freeze as is.

If raw, the berries must be tossed with sugar and left to sit overnight to release their juices before being added to sauces or stuffings;

Excellent accompaniment to poultry, game, roast meats.

Cook them briefly with a little water, just long enough for the berries to pop. They can then be turned into marmalade, compote or jam or added to terrines or chutneys, as you desire.

Suggestions

• Baked apples: put a spoonful of cranberries, brown sugar and orange zest in the middle of the apple.
• Use them in baking: cranberry and orange muffins, coffee cakes.
• Mix cranberry jelly with a little maple syrup to glaze a ham.
• Mix cranberry sauce with honey, soy sauce, sesame seeds and ginger and brush onto roast pork before putting it in the oven.

In Canada, cranberries are most often served in the form of jelly to accompany the traditional Christmas and New Years turkey

They are an integral part of every English celebration of the holiday season. The Christmas turkey would not taste the same if it wasn't accompanied by a traditional cranberry sauce.

Alsace - to accompany sautéed foie gras: a sauce of veal stock, cranberries, cinnamon and honey. Quebec - rack of caribou with cranberry sauce: reduce 100 g cranberries, 100 ml maple syrup and the juice of a lemon: add to veal stock.