Surinam cherry

What it is

Surinam cherry is Eugenia uniflora, a member of the myrtle family. Its thin skin wraps seven or eight ribs around juicy flesh, with one large seed or two or three smaller ones inside. The seeds are not eaten.

The resinous edge is part of its character, along with a little bitterness. The flesh is soft and melting, and the red and nearly black kinds differ in sweetness as well as colour.

Where it comes from

Its home runs from the Guianas south into Brazil and Uruguay. Wild trees also grow in thickets beside the Pilcomayo River in Paraguay. Farther afield, it's often grown as an ornamental in Hawaii, India and Sri Lanka. In South Florida it's listed as invasive.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Brazil, pitanga juice becomes wine or vinegar. Moça Pitanga is a sweet Brazilian drink that blends the juice with condensed milk and crushed ice, poured over a little grenadine in each glass. In Honolulu, Aloha Bites pairs KualoaGrown Surinam cherries with Rangpur lime in a sweet-tart jelly.

Children eat the ripe fruit out of hand. For the table, each fruit is slit open, the seed taken out, and the fruit chilled for two or three hours, which takes away most of that resinous edge.

How it's grown

The plant is a shrub or small tree that can reach 7.5 m (25 ft), suited to tropical and subtropical climates. Some seedlings bear at two years old; others take five or six. Picking is close, frequent work: ripe fruit falls into the hand at the lightest touch, and a laden plant needs gathering daily or even twice a day.

When and where you'll find it

In Florida and the Bahamas, the first crop usually runs from March or April through May or June, followed by another from September through November. Fresh fruit is a tree-side snack, gathered fully ripe. A jarred version comes from Honolulu, where Aloha Bites cooks pitanga and Rangpur lime into jelly.