Physalis peruviana a.k.a Cape Gooseberry

[Blasfemo]

Do any of you know any good ways to preserve this? i have a plant packed with it around 2kg i assume she has been giving some fruit for some time, but now she exploded and gives more fruits me and mom can eat and she also jumped the wall and there is a side i have not picked and is also packed... i found only one recipe so far and its a desert - gooseberry fool - any more ideas anyone?

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[Ken]

This place is about 10 minutes from home.

http://www.skypic.com/ma/5-4104.jpg

Wanna' guess why it's called "Gooseberry Island?"

I've made a few batches of Gooseberry Jam over the years. Pretty good stuff, and it will keep for at least a couple of years.

I haven't tried it, but I imagine that it would freeze just as well as strawberries and blueberries do. I always add sugar to strawberries before freezing them. I suspect that the Gooseberries would be better if frozen with sugar as well.

And that gooseberry in the pic doesn't look quite ripe yet, IMHO.

[Rick]

My dad would never leave your house. He loved those things.

Gooseberry Pie

3 cups fresh gooseberries
2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Stem and rinse berries.
2. Crush 1/2 cup berries in the bottom of a saucepan. Combine sugar, tapioca, and salt; mix with crushed berries. Cook and stir until mixture boils. Cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat, and add in remaining whole berries.
3. Pour fruit filling into pastry. Adjust top crust , cut slits for escape of steam. Brush with milk and sugar.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 35 minutes.

To store them, you can freeze them. You can do it a couple of ways. You can just pack them in a container and freeze or you can freeze them laid out on a cookie sheet. Then pack and store in a freezer. The advantage of the latter method is they won't be frozen together and you can measure out how much you want when you want to use them in the future.

[Blasfemo]

Will look at the jam option... 2 question regarding your post ken

1 Why had the sugar to fruit you freeze
2 I eat the things when they look like the one in the PIC

I read more and more this last hour and this is a highly regarded source of vitamins and minerals and more "good for you" stuff... calcium, tonic and antioxidant property's also i believe.

My dad would never leave your house. He loved those things.

Gooseberry Pie

3 cups fresh gooseberries
2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

Thats what i am talking about ! i will surely try this once i translate it hehe!

[Rick]

I think most of the gooseberries in the States are Eurasian Gooseberries. They are green when they are ripe.

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Here are some recipes from the web.

http://www.gingerich.com/recipes/goose/05.html

[Ken]

Will look at the jam option... 2 question regarding your post ken

1 Why had the sugar to fruit you freeze
2 I eat the things when they look like the one in the PIC

I read more and more this last hour and this is a highly regarded source of vitamins and minerals and more "good for you" stuff... calcium, tonic and antioxidant property's also i believe.



Thats what i am talking about ! i will surely try this once i translate it hehe!

The sugar? It may be my imagination, but I've found the strawberries to freeze better when sprinled with sugar. I don't do that with blueberries.

The gooseberries here get softer and a little sweeter when they're a bit darker - but you still need to add sugar. I find they're still quite bitter when eaten at the color of your picture, even with sugar added.

[Rick]

My mom always did that when freezing strawberries. I've continued the practice although the only reason I do it is because she did. I have no idea what, if anything, it does to the strawberries. One thing I do know. When that strawberry is still partially frozen, just on the verge of thawing out completely, on a hot summer's day it's a cold taste of Heaven with that sugar on it. Mmmm mmmm.

[Ken]

I think most of the gooseberries in the States are Eurasian Gooseberries. They are green when they are ripe.

The ones I'm familiar with get red when ripe. I've never seen one of the Eurasian variety. They look like they're much sweeter. Ours up this way remind me of cranberries, and are very similar in appearance to the ones in Sergio's picture.

[Rick]

Oh no. They are worse than persimmon. The will screw your mouth on sideways. I could never eat them raw. Dad did it all the time. I think he held it in until night time and then walked out into the yard so his mouth could contort. Pretty good cooked, though.

[BENESSE]

Gooseberry Bellini.
Champagne, fresh peach juice, fresh gooseberry juice.

[Rick]

Oh, yeah. Us country boys had that every.....um....Saturday night. Washed it down with Boones Farm.

[LowKey]

Cape gooseberries aren't those little green sour gooseberries. Totally different animal.

The ones Blasfemo has are more like sweet yellow tomatoes and are sometimes called Husk Tomatoes. At least that's what the grocery store here calls them.
Sometimes they are called Ground Cherries too, but there is a starchy root that is also called a ground cherry.

None of my canning books here mention the Cape Gooseberries.
Carla Emery mentions them in her book, The Encyclopedia of Country Living.
Here is what she has to say:

Preserving:
If you spread them out in a cool, airy, dry place, they might last a couple of weeks, but the best way to preserve them is to cook and can, or freeze, or dry....

Freezing. Peel off husk, scald 2 minutes, chill, pour a syrup over, package, and freeze.

By syrup, she means a sugar water solution but she doesn't say if it's light or heavy. She also doesn't give any other recipes, except for a version of dried, sugared stuff. My mom always used a sugar/water over strawberries unless she was freezing whole dessert berries and those were frozen on a cookie sheet until solid, then bagged. The sugar just draws the juice when thawed.

She also suggests they cook well in stews, chili, soups, or can be treated like a fruit in pies, preserves or cooked and sweetened for an ice cream topping. I'll take her word for it on the last one. Not on MY ice cream!

[Blasfemo]

not the same i have here... Ribes uva-crispa L. seems it takes colder climates i have to get some! are they tasty?

KEN i dont know abou you but i eat them when they are yellow and yes they are not the most sweet thing on earth but imo they are palatable...

LOW KEY Ye m8 the ones i have are the ones from the "husk tomatoes" family, the grow much like a tomato but a litle ( a lot) higher and vertical.

I posted this for recipes but also to raise awareness since the more i read (and eat) i see its a good fruit low maintenance and with important property.

[Ken]

Oh no. They are worse than persimmon. The will screw your mouth on sideways. I could never eat them raw. Dad did it all the time. I think he held it in until night time and then walked out into the yard so his mouth could contort. Pretty good cooked, though.

I watched my parents munch on rhubarb from the garden. No sugar. Gaggggggg. I hate the stuff. Bitter, bitter, bitter. Everyone says my Mom makes a great rhubarb pie. I can't stand the stuff even after I cover the filling with sugar. Now mind you, this is a post from a guy who will munch on a lemon or a lime or a raw Vidalia onion without a grain of sugar or sweetener.

[LowKey]

People either like rhubarb or hate it. It doesn't taste bitter to me. Just incredibly, horribly sour. But great in Strawberry Rhubarb pie. My parents and sister wouldn't touch the stuff either. More pie for me!

[crashdive123]

Ruhbarb pie - yum. Mom used to make it with quite a bit of sugar as I recall. My Grandparents had a large gooseberry patch. I remember eating them off the vine - kind of tart, but pretty good.

[Blasfemo]

People either like rhubarb or hate it. It doesn't taste bitter to me. Just incredibly, horribly sour. But great in Strawberry Rhubarb pie. My parents and sister wouldn't touch the stuff either. More pie for me!

"ruibarbo" we use that like a medicine here only parts of the plant, roots in tea for laxative preparation depends on geographic inside our country but most common is dry them semi-cruch them and had water, filter sit on it for some hours and drink it.

i was unaware you could eat it...

[LowKey]

We just eat the Rhubarb leaf stems. The leaves contain too much oxalic acid to be good for you (in fact they're kinda toxic).
Never knew about the root.

[Blasfemo]

Never knew about the root.

i never liked greens in young hence i had "issues" my grandmother resolved with the stinky tea...