Ornamental plant whose calyx, after flowering, enlarges into a kind of membranous cage surrounding a large berry

About the size of a cherry, orange or yellowish in color, this fruit is surrounded by wrinkled leaves, which form a Chinese lantern. Its nicknames include "ground cherry" and "love-in-a-cage."

Nutritional values per 100 g
Sugar: 6%; rich in vitamins A, B, C and P;
Richer in vitamin C than the orange, it is also said that the riper the fruit, the higher its concentration of beta carotene

Buying cape gooseberries
Its outer covering should be untorn and in good condition; it should keep its shape

Storage
Protected by its calyx, the fruit can be kept more than 6 months in a ventilated spot, prolonging the ripening all the more

Cooking tips
It has a sweetish taste and can be eaten raw or cooked
It is very decorative when the five petals of the calyx are opened around the fruit

Suggestions

• Sauté in butter with garlic and basil to accompany poultry
• Sauté with buckwheat honey to accompany roast guinea fowl
• Use for chocolate fondue

Oriental style duck legs - Brown the duck legs with a little maple syrup; finish in the oven. Serve with mesclun salad to which some mint leaves and cape gooseberries have been added. Vinaigrette: 2 tbsp. sugar, 60 ml lemon juice, 60 ml fish sauce (Nuoc Mam), 1 small minced clove garlic, 1 finely chopped hot pepper

Cape gooseberry jam - Wash and weigh the fruit (equal weights of cape gooseberries and oranges); in a pot, bring to a boil 500 g sugar and 250 ml water per kilogram of fruit, reduce the heat and let simmer a few minutes more; place the fruit into the syrup, return to the boil and let cook 25 minutes more. Check the thickness of the jam (a drop placed on a cold plate should congeal) and seal in jars.

Chocolate mousse and cape gooseberry mille-feuille - In a saucepan combine 300 ml sweet white wine with the zest of an orange and poach about 30 cape gooseberries in the mixture for about 5 minutes. Drain the cape gooseberries, reduce the cooking liquid and refrigerate the two together. Assemble the mille-feuille with layers of puff pastry, chocolate mousse and cape gooseberries. Decorate with powdered sugar, cape gooseberries and mint leaves frosted with sugar and egg white.

Gourmetpedia
In Mexico, cape gooseberries are used in sauce with chilies and onions - 300 g cape gooseberries, 3 onions, 1 or more fresh or dried chilies, depending on their heat and your taste, ½ cup oil, 1 tbsp. vinegar, 1 tsp. honey, 3 cloves of garlic, salt, thyme and marjoram.