North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

I don’t find ground cherries too much of a bother.  The thing I get with them is trying to convince my brain that they’re a sweet fruit , not tomatillos.  Still, I tend to use them in sauces for savory things – like a sweet/hot salsa, or grilling sauce, or relish.  Or jam, where my biased brain can’t see their shape. 

 

I read somewhere – perhaps on this very list – that one way to deal with fruit like you describe is to freeze the bunches first, then pluck the frozen berries from the stems.  I used to try to steam juice small bunched berries like that, but unless they are clean of vegetative matter, the juice tastes unpleasantly musty, almost dirty. 

 

Thanks much for the info!

 

~ Stephen

 

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From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lon J. Rombough
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 4:35 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Garden Huckleberry

 

They are pleasant, but they don't have acid. The flavor isn't tomato, but you can tell they are in that family. I've never made preserves because I don't make preserves. The main trouble with Wonderberries is that between the small size of the berries and the juiciness, they are terribly tedious to pick in quantity and clean for processing. You wind up with a bowl of juice that has a lot of debris in it. I just keep a few around to nibble. Even ground cherries (Physalis) are a lot easier to work with. If wonderberries were larger, they might be easier to work with.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
For even more grape lessons, go to http://www.grapeschool.com
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