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Tag: Hawthorns

  • Tejocote: All About the fruit of a Mexican Species of Hawthorn

    Tejocote: All About the fruit of a Mexican Species of Hawthorn

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    Tejocote. You know it well, or you have never heard of it. There seems to be no middle “I-think-I-know-what-that-is” ground for these plump, yellow crabapple lookalikes with burnished orange cheeks. Tejocote is the fruit of hawthorn trees native to the highlands of Mexico and Central America. Until 2015 it was illegal to import them into the United States, but because the fruit is an integral part of Mexican festivals and holidays in early winter, tejocotes were smuggled into the country to feed communities nostalgic for their essential presence on the Day of the Dead, at Christmas, and at New Year. Because of their unfamiliarity in the US, many cooks are unaware of their heritage and uses. Their sunny appearance in winter should activate some culinary games in the kitchen.

    Here are some ideas to get started, and my recipe for tejocote preserves in syrup.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Above: Ripe tejocote ranges from yellow to warm orange and red.

    Why the import-ban? Like other fruits once forbidden and now permitted Stateside (yuzu and mangosteen spring to mind), tejocote was associated with agricultural pests that could spread disease to domestic crops. It became the most-smuggled fruit into the US. When a farm in California’s Pauma Valley began growing tejocotes to supply local demand, the smuggling stopped. And in 2015, after a six-year review process, the USDA lifted the ban on imported tejocotes because “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures” would mitigate any potential risk to local crops.

    Above: Raw, the flesh is mild, and very slightly tart.

    All hawthorns belong to the Crataegus genus. In Mexico, the name tejocote (derived from the Nahuatl tetl-xocotl, meaning stone fruit, because of its big seeds) refers to all species native to the region (numbering over a dozen). The best known is Crataegus mexicana, for which C. pubescens is a defunct synonym.

    While they resemble their crabapple cousins closely (like apples and pears, both are pomes), in flavor tejocotes are significantly less astringent. They taste very mild, with undertones of apple. Their dense, dry flesh is reminiscent of quince, but also of fresh jujube—but less granular than the former, and not as sweet as the latter. Each fruit contains three or more elongated seeds.

    Above: Serrato Family Farms began growing tejocote in California in the early 2000s.

    In Mexico tejocotes are essential to edible and decorative gifts proffered on the Day of the Dead at the end of October, as well as during the Feast of Guadalupe on December 12th, Christmas, and New Year. Ponche (a hot punch) is synonymous with tejocote, and is made with guava and spices and the slowly cooked tejocote whose aroma and sky-high pectin content (rather than strong flavor, which is non-existent) give the drink a unique texture and scent. Cooked low and slow, sweet tejocote preserves are unctuous—dense, and velvety. Garlands of the fresh fruit are a vivid ornament.

    Above: Tejocotes simmering with citrus peel and fresh juniper in my kitchen.
    Above: After several slow hours of cooking, the tejocotes are close to candied.

    My first tejocote games were conservative. I cooked the fruit slowly in water with sugar, with varying aromatics. The melting but concentrated texture of the cooked fruit was unlike anything I had eaten; reminiscent of quince but smooth, and almost mildly vegetal, like a thick yam, as well as a little slippery (the pectin). The flavor came purely from the seasonings. I make versions of this annually, adding citrus peel for extra aroma, and sometimes even a pinch of salt.

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  • What’s that berry: 10 Red Fruits of Autumn—Test Your Knowledge

    What’s that berry: 10 Red Fruits of Autumn—Test Your Knowledge

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    The wild and tame red fruits of fall are botanical holiday decorations, in miniature. Adorning trees and shrubs, they breathe optimism into the darkening season. They can bring DIY holiday decorations to life, or make a tasty treat. Some may be a berry, while others are drupes (or pomes).

    Here are 10 common red fruits that light up branches even after autumn foliage has turned to a crisp.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Winterberry

    Above: Winterberry is a deciduous holly, Ilex verticillata.

    Native to the central and eastern United States, winterberry glows with color through winter. Red as well as yellow and orange varieties hold their fruits even in hard freezes, and look spectacular on the deciduous shrubs’ bare branches. They are often seen in late fall and winter, fresh-cut, at flower sellers. The vivid drupes (not berries) are good food for migrating or resident birds. Although tolerant of shade, female shrubs in full sun will produce the most fruit, in USDA hardiness 3-9. (See Gardening 101: Holly.)

    Chokeberry

    Above: Red chokeberry shines in late fall.

    Aronia arbutifolia produces its red pomes (not berries) about a month or more later than its better-known dark cousin, A. melanocarpa (black chokeberry). Its smaller fruits make up for their size in intense color. And once a touch a frost blets them, red chokeberry becomes more palatable than its name suggests. (See Aronia: Grow Your Own Superfood.)

    Above: Red chokeberries are usually very astringent until well into cold weather.

    Use the pomes in syrups (you can substitute them in this fermented elderberry syrup method) or add them to cooked fruit butters or fermented ketchups. Their flavor, raw, is very mild and apple-like. Red chokeberry is native to the eastern US and is hardy from zones 4-9. It tolerates dry to boggy soils.

    Mountain Ash

    Above: A cluster of mountain ash fruits.

    Sorbus americana is a small native tree that grows in acidic soils and cooler climates (zones 3-6) in the eastern part of the US. If there are mountains around, look for this pretty tree. Its clusters of fruits (pomes, again, not berries) take color in late summer but persist on the trees well after leaf-drop and into winter. Taste one, raw. Horrible! But they transform well into cooked jellies and syrups, and, like red chokeberry, are improved by a freeze. (See Gardening 101: Sorbus.)

    Hawthorn

    Above: Hawthorn fruits in winter

    Hawthorns belong to the genus Crataegus, with dozens (possibly hundreds) of species native to North America, Europe, and Asia. In the US, C. viridis ‘Winter King’ is often deployed in cold-climate urban landscaping, where its scarlet fruits (pomes) ripen in fall. More palatable than astringent crabapples, the mild flavor of hawthorn fruit is improved by slow-cooking with spices, to make a hot mulled drink, or to preserve the fruit whole in the tradition of Mexican tejocotes (C. mexicana). ‘Winter King’ is hardy from zones 4-7. (See Gardening 101: Hawthorn.)

    Crabapple

    Above: Like maraschino cherries on trees, crabapples blaze in autumn.

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