Strawberry tree fruit
Arbutus unedo
fruit
A small round, red, grainy fruit of the strawberry tree, a shrub of the Mediterranean rim; sweet and mealy, as jam, liqueur or raw when fully ripe. It provides pectins, anthocyanins and tannins.
- Origin
- Mediterranean scrubland
- Where to find it
- On the maquis slopes of Corsica, the Var and Portugal; in the Algarve, it is distilled into aguardente de medronho, sold in the villages of the Serra de Monchique.
- Season (United States)
- October to December
- Preparation
- It is eaten whole, grainy skin included, fully ripe and deep red. Its tannins hold back plant iron: better away from an iron-rich meal than during it.
- Molecules
- Pectins · AnthocyaninsIn small amounts, not counted EllagitanninsWhat slows things down Tannins (iron brake)
- Did you know?
- Pliny explained its Latin name, unedo, as unum edo, “I eat only one”: a fruit held in low regard. Yet the tree appears on the coat of arms of Madrid.