I found a really good website that sells tropical fruit seeds called Trade Winds Fruit. What I love about them is their extensive database on plants. I was reading through their database and I came across the Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana). I remember back in the spring debating buying seeds for this plant, since I had read it is like a sweet cherry tomato. Then at some point between remembering what I read in the spring and what I read the other night, I realized that the Cape Gooseberry might be the same plant as the Chinese Lantern. I went to FoodSubs.com and find the entry for Cape Gooseberries:
- Cape gooseberry = Chinese lantern = physalis = golden gooseberry = alkekengi = strawberry tomato = ground cherry = husk tomato = golden berry = golden husk = poha
Notes: Like its relative the tomatillo, the Cape gooseberry is covered with a papery husk. The fruit inside looks a bit like a yellow cherry, and tastes like a sweet tomato. You can eat Cape gooseberries whole, minus the husk, or use them to make very tasty preserves. They're hard to find in the United States; your best bet is a specialty produce market in the spring.
Substitutes: tomatillos OR gooseberries OR cherry tomatoes.
You know what? For bloody years my mom has had Chinese Lanterns growing in her yard. Even in our cold climate, they grow well as a perennial. Chinese Lanterns are a papery like flower that hangs down and are quite decorative. I had no idea that inside was a delicious little tomatillo. How many years of berry eating have I missed? Woe is me.
Posted by Stephanie Chan at 03:20 MT [ link to this entry ]
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