Chichipe fruit

What it is

The round red fruit measures about 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) across. Its juicy flesh ranges from red to purple or dark red and holds small black seeds. Young fruits carry spines that drop away as they ripen.

The flavour can be sweet, sour or bland. People gathering chichipe favour the sweet fruits, and growers keep plants that bear larger, sweeter ones.

Where it comes from

Chichipe comes from Mexico’s Puebla–Oaxaca region. Its scientific name is Polaskia chichipe, and it grows both in wild thorn scrub and in home gardens. People also keep useful plants in land cleared for farming, then multiply those with fruit they like.

How it's eaten where it grows

In the Tehuacán Valley, people eat chichipe fresh or as jam, and some households dry the fruit like raisins to eat later or add to mole, a traditional sauce. In San Luis Atolotitlán and Metzontla, it is also one of the cactus fruits used for colonche.

For the valley’s colonche, peeled fruit is pressed through cloth to separate the juice from the seeds. The juice ferments in covered clay pots with a little of an earlier batch added to start it. Kept in a cool, dark room, the new batch is ready in two to four days.

How it's grown

The cactus branches like a small tree and can reach 5 m (16 ft). It needs sun and soil that drains well, and its flowers open at night. Growers plant young branches or move whole young plants, carrying favoured fruit types into fields and gardens.

When and where you'll find it

In the Tehuacán Valley, chichipe is usually harvested in May and June. Fresh fruits are gathered locally and sold at local markets. Dried fruit and jam are other regional forms, alongside the colonche made in communities such as San Luis Atolotitlán and Metzontla.