Yesterday we had the pleasure of being invited to the home, office, and workspace of @TropicalBloom . Owners and Environmental Biologists Jennifer and Osvaldo, opened up their home and land for us to relax and enjoy.

We walked with Osvaldo who showed us around the workspace where they cultivate the bromeliads, house fish, turtles, guinea pigs, and eleven rescue dogs who are part of their family.

Our daughter enjoyed all the plants and animals she got see, especially the cats (one of her words for all four legged animals including JuanGa.)

Grosellas

Jennifer had mentioned that she was going to make us some Grosellas and I had no clue what she was talking about.

Before their clients left with their new bromeliads, Osvaldo and Raul went Grosella or what you would call Gooseberry, picking. They grow on a tree in bunches almost like grapes and the tree was packed with them.

I had never eaten a gooseberry but have seen a variation of the gooseberry that is yellow or orange on one of the cooking channels. I ate one raw and it almost tasted like a green pepper.

Jennifer said they are packed with Vitamin C and are usually cooked in water and sugar as a treat. That evening she made some with brown sugar and water. Put them in the fridge and let them cool a bit. What you get is a semi-sweet tart fruit.

Cooking Grosellas

We packed up some breadfruit, bananas, and gooseberries for the ride home. This morning I decided that I was going to make my gooseberries with a little bit more flavor. I added some cinnamon, vanilla extract, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, and some freshly squeezed orange juice and added this to the water.

I let it cook and waited until the gooseberries took on a brownish color and had separated. I also tasted them to see if they were soft.

I put them in the fridge and since the gooseberry soaks up the flavors added in the water, you get a semi-sweet tart, cinnamon tasting treat. I didn’t measure anything; I just added and tasted. But if you want to have a recipe to follow, here is one that I found this morning on a site called @VeganInTheSun .

Thanks @TropicalBloom!

Thanks to Jennifer and Osvaldo for teaching me something new about the fruits and vegetables that grow in Puerto Rico. If you would like to visit Jennifer and Osvaldo’s shop in Añasco, Puerto Rico, write to them here , you can find them on Twitter @TropicalBloom and on Facebook  .

Have you ever had Grosellas or Gooseberries? 

What did you think of the taste and how did you use them in your cooking?

Thanks to Raul @rj_c for taking the pictures.