BERIES - LITCHI TOMATO / MORELLE DE BALBIS

The Litchi tomato comes to us from South America.  South Americans have developed a wide variety of local names for this plant, but it was the French botanist Michel Felix Dunal who first described the Litchi fruit scientifically, hence the common French name Morelle de Balbis 

Because the plant itself is covered with thorns, it is sometimes used as a hedge plant to discourage animals from wandering into vegetable gardens — not a bad idea.

The fruits ripen dark red and are round and somewhat bullet-shaped, tapering to a blunt point. The interior flesh is yellow and full of flavour. The fruit has the mouthy feeling of raspberries. The actual flavor is sweet and refreshing, quite similar to  tomato and berries for which it can be used as a relatively good substitute in pies.