Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Feeling Fruity Why Not Try the Lesser Know Fruit the Tayberry

By KC Kudra

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were to cross a blackberry and a raspberry? The answer, which we have thanks to a couple of Scottish botanists, is the tayberry a large reddish purple berry.

The tayberry was first developed in Invergowrie (right by the Tay River, thus the name) by David Jennings and David Mason, botanists at the Scottish Crops Institute. This raspberry-blackberry cross produces its fruit in July and August; and the berries are wonderful eaten fresh or cooked into a variety of foods.

It both tastes and smells just like a blackberry. Taking a bite into one, you may notice that there is a slight tart flavor to it. There is more then one way that you can enjoy this wonderful meticulously merged fruit.

Tayberries make a wonderful pie and are delicious eaten fresh. Tayberry jam is great for toast or sandwiches. In season, perhaps you may want to bake a tayberry pie to take along on a picnic.

Tayberries are great in a bowl of ice cream or yogurt and are equally good in a fruit salad or mixed into jell-o. You can use tayberries just as you would use blackberries or raspberries. Even eaten as they are, they are a treat. Try them in cereal, scattered on top of a cheesecake or freeze them and add them to smoothies! No matter how you use tayberries, you are certain to enjoy them.

Tayberries are also used to make a wine. The wine features a brilliant ruby red color and a taste with just the right amounts of sweetness and tartness. It makes a great pairing with strong cheeses, red meat, and game. The wine makes a great gift and at only about $15 a bottle, a very affordable one as well.

Besides it's one of a kind flavor, the tayberry also contains a lot of nutritional value. Tayberries are a good source of vitamin C, bioflavonoids, folate, and fiber. The tayberry fruit and leaves are also employed as a home remedy for diarrhea.

Another home remedy using tayberry leaves (originally raspberry or blackberry leaves, but tayberry works equally well) is to chew the leaves as a cure for bleeding gums. The Scots have been using this home remedy for 2,000 years!

Tayberry is a versatile fruit indeed, with applications from food to wine to home remedies. This is a new and different fruit, which you can use in many dishes. Tart, sweet, and absolutely delicious, the tayberry's uses are limited only by your imagination.

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