I discovered these little golden beauties on a trip to Peru, but I've been told you can find them stateside. They date back to the Incas. With these two hints, I should get plenty of correct responses—send them in! (And I'm looking for their Spanish name.)
Turns out that these berries are known colloquially under many names in Latin America. No one guessed aguaymanto, the Peruvian name I was looking for, but there were several of you that got one of its other names right: uchuva, uvilla. They're known in English as a cape gooseberry, which several of you guessed right, too. If we want to get technical, the botanical name is Physalis Peruviana L.
On vacation in Peru, I first ate them in an homemade marmalade, and then later that same day, the fresh version was served to me in a fruit salad. I discovered they are husk-covered when the berry was used as a drink garnish. The fresh aguaymanto has a sweet-tart taste (almost acidic)—a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. My friends and I bought jars of the marmalade to bring back and I brought it into work to share. It tasted great with fresh cheese and ricotta on slices of baguette.
From: Leola Gajeski | 1/13/11 at 4:00 pm
Tomatillos. Mom called them ground cherries, made sauce out of them. She would not have even tried them had she known they were SPanish, I don't think.
From: Tracy | 1/13/11 at 4:08 pm
Isn't it a type of Gooseberry or "grosella verde" in Spanish?
Tracy
From: Kait | 1/13/11 at 4:15 pm
It is a gooseberry but I have no idea what it is in Spanish.
I love those little things. I had them once at a restaurant that had dipped them in some sort of honeyed concoction which made them utterly delectable.
From: Andrea Fierro | 1/13/11 at 4:15 pm
These are uvilla, not to be confused with tomatillos. Both are from the nightshade family, however. Uvilla is great used in salsas, flan, marmalades, etc. So delicious. One is able to find them in the states, but rarely in their husks. Also known as gooseberries or Inca Berries in English...
From: Jessie | 1/13/11 at 4:42 pm
I had some in Colombia last fall - they're husk cherries, right? I think in Colombia they're known as uchuva.
From: Aileen | 1/13/11 at 5:13 pm
It is a picture of a uchuva.
From: Vera | 1/13/11 at 5:16 pm
That is a Uchuva...what I want to know is, WTF is this and is it really blue???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75562692@N00/1079128979
From: Carrie | 1/13/11 at 5:33 pm
Ground cherries!
From: Rachel in NC | 1/13/11 at 5:34 pm
Uchuva (Cape Gooseberry)
From: steenbok68 | 1/14/11 at 9:44 am
They are called physalis over here, and they grow very well in my veggie garden!
From: Jen | 1/14/11 at 1:32 pm
I was able to grow pineapple ground cherries that looked just like this these in my backyard garden in Nyack, NY this year. They were much sweeter after they'd actually fallen off the plant and ripened a few days. I tried to save a few seeds...we'll see if they germinate.
From: Karoline | 1/14/11 at 4:14 pm
This is Physalis peruviana or Kapkrusbär as we say in Sweden. Here they are also sold dried as Incaberries.
From: Oli | 1/15/11 at 1:38 am
In Denmark we call them ananaskirsebær direct translate: pineapple cherries.
From: Sarah | 1/17/11 at 10:08 am
We call them groundcherries. They sell them at my local farmer's market in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. I've also grown them, and like tomatillos, they are easy to grow and eager to self-sow. (Seed Savers Exchange is a good seed source.) Last fall, I baked a ground cherry pie using a recipe that used brown sugar. It was delicious and unique with a tropical-caramel-banana-pineapple flavor.