Found this weird fruit growing in our garden. We asked our Bulgarian neighbour, Maria, and she said they are called Drenkie, Дренки. They are supposed to be good for upset stomachs and she recommended making a compote out of them.
We looked them up and they are Cornelian Cherrries.They taste strange, quite astringent, but quite pleasant as long as you pick the ripe ones that have fallen off the tree. We have eaten them for pudding, and with ice cream and on yoghurt. Lovely!
What a blessing to have them growing wild in your garden. They look delicious!
They’re actually cultivated Robyn, you can buy the fruit in the local market, and the trees are sold all over. The Bulgarians obviously value their medicinal uses.
Fascinating, but don’t eat too many! Like the sound of what you can do with the wood (very dense and used for making walking sticks) and this… Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is used for distilling vodka, in Albania it is distilled into raki, and in Greece crana berries are used to make home-made liqueur. :~) Warm you up in Winter!!!
They are huge compared to our’s Our neighbour takes them for his best rakia. I made some syrup the first year but never used it. They are supposed to be a so-called superfood which is ok if you can eat them, we don’t mix!