Eileen and horrible, terrible, no good, very bad fruit.
Since I’m in NY, and there’s just not that much I can say about this particular visit, I thought I’d peruse the old files and see what tales I could regale you with. Files being the ones on the computer, and also the ones in the brain.
And so I give to you (but not really, it’s just a picture), the dreaded tomate de arbol.
I like to call it “the dreaded tomate de arbol”, much like I like to refer to the aftermath of an unfortunate decision to rest a cup of cocoa on the hanging mousepad on my computer tray on my desk at the publishing company as “the great cocoa spill of 1998.”
The dreaded tomate de arbol is a fruit I first came in contact with in Ecuador, and I later saw it on Colombia on a family trip. It grows from a kind of tree (thus the “arbol” part), and looks a bit like a roma tomato, though it is rounder and a bit pointy at the end. The truly unfortunate thing is that we had one of the trees at the house I was living in in Cuenca, Ecuador, and although we also had one of my favorite fruits, (blackberries) growing there nobody ever thought to make juice out of this, instead preferring the rusty, malty tomate de arbol for all juice and dessert occasions.
I assume it either tastes like something different to people who like it, or that it’s an acquired taste. I used to feel bad when Ecuadoreans would ask me how I liked it, as though I was insulting their mother’s apple pie, or something similar. The good news is that whenever anyone would ask me how I felt about it, I would immediately feint and dodge and talk about how much I loved the naranjilla, a fruit which needs no adjectival phrase to describe it (though you may call it delicious if you like).
Which if you think about it, isn’t a bad foil for what to do when someone asks you how you like anything you don’t like. For example, sopaipillas pasadas, or those fried disks of dough in gummy sweet sauce so common on rainy days like those coming in Santiago. I start talking about porotos granados or some other Chilean dish I like. It’s the culinary equivalent of pointing over someone’s shoulder and saying, “Look, ducks!”
Want to try tomate de arbol in Santiago? Try the place I talked about here. And don’t say I didn’t warn you. Also: look, ducks!
Crazy talk! Tomates de arbol are awesome, my favourite juice flavour when I lived in Ecuador. To me it tastes a little mango-y and mixes really well with that fruit as well. I also used to stew it and serve with vanilla ice-cream. Yum. I smuggled seeds back with me on my last trip to Quito a couple of months ago and plan to grow them down here in Colchagua…
I will try them again, but they taste rusty and malty to me. I have had them stewed in syrup, and everyone thought I was mad, but I wanted it to go away ASAP! But if you say they’re fab, I’ll give them another try sometime (invite?!). Also, any word on naranjilla seeds (also called lulo)? Not sure if it gets too cold for them, but they’re my favorite! (the juice from the fruit, not the seeds).
hahah! Loved the “look ducks!” approach. I think I might try it the next time mi suegra asks how I like the Cochayuyo..
hey! thanks for commenting, haven’t seen you here before. I like cochayuyo in small quantities and if it’s cooked very well, or strangely, just eaten dry, straight off the beach, like some kind of sea-jerky. Also, there’s one of those natural yogurt places in the mall in San Antonio, the one with the tart yogurt, and we’ve just started getting some in Santiago (other than Yogen Fruz). Good news all around! Shall add you to the blogroll, forthwith! Look, ducks!
yeah, I´ve been reading you off and on since I had studied abroad and was researching and just started up on attempting to blog- your blog has been one of my favs! Thanks for the add! 🙂
I love tamarillos. Along with feijoas, tamarillos are undoubtedly among the best crops NZ [and oz] ever appropriated from South America. They are both on my top ten list for trees to have in my ultimate garden. Although I have seen the feijoas appear at the feria already, I think I may be the only one who buys them [and then takes them home, smells them to reminisce about Melbourne childhood suburbs and then whip up some chutney to prolong the joy]. But haven’t spotted any tamarillos yet..nor naranjilla…they also sound and look good.
I first tried a tamarillo/tomate de arbol/tree tomahto in Ecuador and tried again in DC. I didn’t see them when I was in NZ, but I was mostly on the south Island, and imagine they are mainly found on the north. If you read further in the comments, it sounds like there could be some here in Chile sometime. Naranjilla is my absolute favorite, but I think it gets too cold near Santiago for us to grow them, though I don’t know how we’d get the seeds anyway. I think that fruit juice place sells tomate de arbol juice as well. maybe you could check it out and report back? Also, would love to know where you’re finding feijoas and when you’re having chutney-making class. Sign me up!
Feijoas have appeared at my local feria libre in Nuñoa [Emilia Tellez y Bremen]. The season doesn’t last long tho’, maybe 2-3 weeks. Last year I didn’t see any but the year before I got hold of a good bunch and made chutney and cake and ate bags of them. It seems a bit wrong paying for them [$1000 a kilo] ‘cos usually I’d be seeking them out from an overhanging backyard tree. They are definitely best when they have fallen from, and not picked off, the tree.
mmm, interesting. I don’t know if they show up at my local feria (esperanza con agustinas), but I very easily could have overlooked them. I’ll have to keep an eye out, when do they appear?
ummmm…….now!
missing them! I’m in the northern hemisphere. Enjoy, though!