Mulberry

What it is

Mulberry covers several fruits: black mulberry, Morus nigra; red mulberry, Morus rubra; and white mulberry, Morus alba, as well as hybrids. Black mulberries have an aromatic, sweet-tart flavour. White mulberries taste sweet and can ripen white, pink, red or violet-black. Red mulberries are ripe when nearly black.

The fruit contains many little seeds. Eating it whole keeps that texture; straining the juice for jelly leaves the seeds behind.

Where it comes from

Black mulberry comes from southwest Asia. Red mulberry is native to North America, where it grows along streams and on rich bottomland. White mulberry comes from China and travelled abroad to feed silkworms. Illinois Everbearing joins two of those family lines: it is a red-by-white mulberry hybrid.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Turkey, karadut şerbeti is a black mulberry drink. The berries are drained, then simmered with sugar, water and a cinnamon stick; the liquid is strained and chilled, and served with ice.

In London, Tottenham cake wears pink icing coloured with mulberries. Mulberry syrup mixes with icing sugar, and a scattering of dried coconut finishes the top. Local Quakers still bake it with fruit from their own tree.

How it's grown

A black mulberry can spread 9 m (30 ft) high and wide and take around eight years to start fruiting. One tree can produce a crop without a partner. It grows best in a sunny, sheltered spot with soil that drains well but holds moisture.

The fruits ripen gradually. On a large tree, shaking the branches over a sheet catches the ready ones as they fall.

When and where you'll find it

In Britain, black mulberries usually ripen in August and September, soft and glossy black. They are rarely found in shops there. In California, Very Mulberry in Brentwood grows purple Himalayan mulberries that visitors pick themselves. A surplus of mulberries can be frozen.