Cornelian cherry

What it is

The olive-shaped fruit is usually 1.3–2.5 cm (½–1 in) long. Firm red fruit tastes sharply tart; as it softens, it becomes sweeter and more fragrant. The stone clings tightly to the flesh.

Fruit varieties can be larger. At Carandale Farm in Wisconsin, Pioneer and Elegant both grew pear-shaped fruits about 3.8 cm (1½ in) long. Pioneer was dark red, juicy and soft when ripe; Elegant stayed firmer and tarter.

Where it comes from

Cornelian cherry comes from central and southern Europe and western Asia. In the US, it is mostly grown as an ornamental tree. In Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Drvar Valley, it is a household fruit: families gather it from wild trees as well as their own plantings.

How it's eaten where it grows

Drvar families preserve cornelian cherries as jam, juice and pickles, and dry them for compote. The area’s best-known product is Drvarska drenja, a brandy made by fermenting and distilling the fruit.

Another drink, liker od drenjina, begins with fresh cornelian cherries soaked in that brandy. A year of ageing turns the combination into a fruit liqueur.

How it's grown

This is a shrub or small tree that loses its leaves in winter and can reach 7.6 m (25 ft). In Drvar, growers clear competing vegetation around favoured trees and raise new plants from trees with bigger fruit and better yields.

The harvest takes several rounds because the fruits ripen gradually. Some Drvar growers keep the grass short or spread sheets under the branches, then gather fruit as it falls naturally.

When and where you'll find it

In Drvar, the usual harvest falls in late summer and early autumn, when households prepare fruit for winter. The fruit also comes bottled as a syrup, such as Alpe Pragas’s cornelian cherry syrup, made for a cold drink or a splash in white wine.