HAWAII: Poha / Cape Gooseberry

I found a scrap of paper saying that Cape Gooseberries are in season during September, when the Norwich Meadows Farm has them at Union Square and various other greenmarkets around and about New York City.  (I sent an email to Norwich Meadows Farm, and indeed they do have them.)

Well, that's nice, but what are they?  Cape Gooseberries aren't so named because they grow on the cape of any state.  They are called that because they have little paper capes.  About the size of a nickel, if they are ripe, they're a golden yellow color with or without the dry husk.  If you cut one open, it has seeds similar to a tomato, that you can eat, and it is said to be distantly related to tomatillos.  It seems to go by a confusion of names: Goldenberry, Husk Cherry, Peruvian Ground Cherry, Gooseberry Tomato, Husk Tomato.  I've also seen the names "ground cherries" and "clammy ground cherries", in passing, although I think this fruit is only related to those.  The larger varieties of fruit are supposedly Cape Gooseberries.  Here is a picture of a ripe Cape Gooseberry (care of Wikimedia Commons).   You can see it doesn't seem to be related in anyway to European gooseberries.

What seems to be different about them is their flavor. I haven't yet had the pleasure of tasting one, but I'm going to try to go to the Greenmarket just to get one. (Well, actually, you probably can't just get ONE to taste. Maybe you can't eat just one either.)  This is how Chef Ed Matthews at One Block West in Winchester, VA describes their flavor: "caramelized pineapple brûlée custard" . . . mmmm!  How can you get better or more intriguing than that!  He also said they make a great chef snack.  (Check out Chef Ed's wonderful blog, by the way.)

Trying to find out more about Cape Gooseberries took me -- virtually, that is -- to one of the places in the US I know least about, and have never thought to go -- and that's Hawaii.  (All of you who know me, know that I was brought up under a rock and burn rather than tan, and that I don't care so much for hot climates, either).   The Cape Gooseberry is grown extensively there, and has become a part of Hawaii's cuisine after having been brought there in the early 1800s by explorers.  It spread to all of the islands after being introduced, and even became wild in some places.  In Hawaii, it is called the poha or poha berry.

Wait . . . this fruit has too many names!  It originally came from Brazil and settled in Peru, where it is called the uchuva.  It grows wild in the Andes.  Brought back to London by the late 1700s, from there it spread to Australia and Hawaii.  I guess those English explorers who went to Hawaii took their snacks with them -- gin and tonics with Cape Gooseberries, maybe chocolate-dipped Cape Gooseberries, at that.

Poha might grow best in mountains, but you may be able to grow them in your own backyard.  One expert said they seem to thrive on neglect.  That's my kind of fruit!  Probably it doesn't get too far from the raw stage, because it evidently tastes so good just as it is, you might not have enough left over to make anything.
 
For more than you wanted to know (and here's a tip -- don't eat the cape):

Plant information: poha
Plant information: Cape Gooseberry
Cape Gooseberry Website 
Nutritional information (low in calories!)

Beautiful cake from India, where it goes by yet other names

Other Recipes:
Cape Gooseberry Recipes
Poha Fruit Recipes  (Note: If you want to search for poha, be sure to search for poha fruit.  Poha is also the name of an Indian snack.
Uchuva Fruit Recipes