Tree Tomato Juice (Tamarillo, Tomate de Árbol)
Tamarillo blended with water, milk or both, sweetened to taste and strained. Known in Colombia as tomate de árbol and sold internationally as tamarillo, it is tart and faintly savoury, which is why it takes sugar and why milk suits it. Five minutes, serves five.
Servings: 5
Calories: 23kcal
Ingredients
- 4 tree tomatoes (tamarillo) ripe, deep red or orange and slightly soft; also sold as tomate de árbol
- Sugar, to taste it needs more than you expect: the fruit is genuinely tart
- Milk, optional see the notes: milk softens the acidity
- Water
Instructions
- Cut the tree tomatoes in half, scoop the pulp out with a spoon and put it in the blender. The skin is bitter and does not go in.
- Add water, or milk, or both, and sugar to taste.
- Blend for about 30 seconds, then pour it through a strainer. Do not skip this: the fruit is full of small hard seeds and the juice is unpleasant with them in.
Notes
Made with water it is sharp and refreshing; made with milk it becomes rounder and much less acidic, which is how most Colombian households drink it. A mix of the two is common and is what this recipe assumes. Taste before you decide on the sugar: tamarillo is more tart than it looks and how much it needs varies a lot with ripeness. Ripe fruit is deep red or orange, gives slightly under a thumb, and comes away from the skin easily; an underripe one is hard, green-shouldered and unpleasantly sour.
Nutrition
Calories: 23kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 237mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 825IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg