Everything about The Tamarillo totally explained
The
tamarillo,
tree tomato, or
tomate de árbol is the edible
fruit of
Solanum betaceum, a species of small
tree or
shrub in the
flowering plant family
Solanaceae. It is egg-shaped, with a thin skin and a soft flesh (when ripe), with dark-colored
seeds occupying about one third of the interior. The fruit closely resembles a
tomato, hence its name.
Cultivation
The fruit can be between 2 and 8 cm in length. They are held on the tree in clusters as are many other clustered fruit, such as
cherries. The trees are grown from cuttings and are very frost-tender when young. They are shallow-rooted and respond to deep
mulching and abundant water. The tree can grow to a little more than 6 meters but it's subject to wind damage and needs shelter. It will bear fruit after two years and a single mature tree in good
soil will carry more fruit than a normal family can eat for about 3 months. A well-nourished tree can produce up to 66kg of fruit in a year. When the tree is about 1 to 1.5 meters in height it's advisable to cut the roots on one side and lean the tree to the other (direction of the midday sun at about 30 to 45 degrees). This allows fruiting branches to grow from all along the trunk rather than just at the top.
The tamarillo is native to the
Andes of
Peru,
Chile,
Ecuador and
Bolivia. It is cultivated in
Argentina,
Australia,
Brazil,
Colombia,
Kenya, the
United States,
Venezuela,
Portugal and
Indonesia where it's known as “'terong Belanda'” or ”Dutch eggplant”. It is grown as a commercial crop for international export in
New Zealand and
Portugal.
Tamarillos as food
The fruit is eaten by scooping the flesh from a halved fruit, but in New Zealand children palpate the ripe fruit until it's soft then bite off the stem end and squeeze the flesh directly into their mouths. When lightly
sugared and cooled, the flesh makes a refreshing breakfast dish. In addition, they give a unique flavor when
compoted or added to stews (such as Boeuf Bourguignon), hollandaise, chutneys, and curries. They are also tasty and decorative in, for example, radicchio salads. Appetizing desserts using this fruit include bavarois and combined with apples in a strudel. In Colombia and Ecuador, fresh tamarillos are frequently blended together with water and sugar to make a juice. It is also available as a commercially pasteurized purée.
Image:Tamarillos im Anschnitt(janek2005).jpg
Image:Tamarillos(janek2005).jpg
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tamarillo'.
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