Physalis - Phýsalis - Физалис

Last Sunday there was a holiday in our Church. All members of the church were invited to go to nature. This is a scout camp near the Moldovan town of Kalarash. It is a small town, but it is surrounded by the largest forest in Moldova, called Kodry.

In detstve I often visited this forest, we collected mushrooms and wild dogwood there. I did not like to collect dogwood. Small berries, and it is necessary to climb on branches, or strongly shake a tree. But mushrooms, this is my passion.

We decided not to wait for the bus by brothers and sisters to start from Chisinau to Calarasi, we got into the car and decided to give ourselves the opportunity to explore the surroundings of the camp before everyone else's arrival.

Only my son volunteered to accompany me on a walk along the high grass. We went.

I was a little upset, the usual set of grasses and wildflowers, everything that I already had in my photo album. But, one find has corrected the situation. It was physalis. We found him in the gorge of a deep ravine. it's almost dark there. The trees create such a shadow there that the sky is completely invisible.

But, rare sun rays penetrated there. There we found these berries. Which are relatives of tomatoes and potatoes. Yes, they belong to the family of pastels.

These berries are not yet ripe. I did not try them. But, I remember this taste, it's hard to mix it up with something.

He has a special sweet and sour taste. Have ripe berries. There is a slight note in taste, as it seems to me, it resembles the aroma of tomato.

As in tomato, a lot of small seeds are inside the berry. You do not feel them when you eat berries.

It is believed that the physician is medicinal, but, with some reservations. The stems of pastel, as is known, are poisonous, this also applies to the physalis. But, the roots of the physalis are used for medical purposes, as a choleretic and diuretic.

Berries of physalis are used as dietary food. But, if you have high acidity, you need to be careful. Berries are able to increase acidity. I rarely met, but met, cultural varieties of physalis. More precisely, I rarely met those who grow it in their garden. But, I made a couple of photos.

Once I tried jam and compote from physalis. I can not say that this is something special, but when there are no other fruits, then, this is a good substitute.

Very beautiful look berries physalis as an ornament of various dishes. The berries are very bright. It looks delicious and stirs up the appetite.

Before eating berries in food, they must be thoroughly rinsed with hot water. They have a layer that looks like wax, it needs to be washed off. But, as a child, I found a forest glade where there was a whole sea of berries, I did not have time to wash berries, I needed to eat them quickly. I then ate a lot of berries, but, I do not remember problems with acidity increase.