Freaky Fruit: Husk Cherries

Here’s another “freaky fruit” — freaky because it’s new to me.  This freak of a fruit is called a husk cherry.

More Like Berries than Cherries

© Photo by Margarida Correia. Husk cherries at Union Square Farmers Market.

Husk cherries look more like berries than cherries, once you peel back their paper-thin husk.  They’re lightweight, almost weightless, as delicate as Osage oranges are rough. The small, perfectly round cherries — no berries — hide in their husks like oysters in oyster shells.  They come in hues of green or orange and taste a little like pineapple.  They’re said to be a relative of the tomato family.

Husk cherries — also called ground cherries — can be eaten raw or used in salads and desserts.  The farmer at the Union Square market said she uses them to make preserves. Gathered in a crate by the hundreds, the husk cherries looked liked delicately wrapped bons-bons.

· Price:  $10/pound

· Nutritional tidbits: rich in a carotenoid pigment called cryptoxanthin, which the body converts to vitamin A.

· Shape/color/texture:  round-shaped fruit, the size of a berry, enclosed in a delicate beige-colored husk.

Click here for other Freaky Fruit.

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