For much of life this egg-shaped fruit with its shiny 'Greek Easter egg red' skin was unknown to me. When I first tasted it, I wasn't disappointed. That it had not been in my life before, I mean. It was tart, astringent, and didn't ring any bells in my brain's food flavour chart.

I binned it.

Later, in an epiphany, I tried skinning and poaching them. Hmmm. Better. OK.

 The in a hurried moment, I put the entire fruit (minus its unhelpful brand sticker) covered with water, into a saucepan over a medium heat, covered to saucepan, brought them to the boil, then turned them off a minute or two later, leaving them to cool in the water. An hour (?) later I fished them out, slipped off the skins (one of my favourite tasks with anything in the kitchen - give me a cooked beetroot to skin and I am in sensuous domestic heaven) and popped them in a fridge container, cutting them in half and pouring over the cooking water, clear as when it went in the pot.

Notice - NO sugar, no fuss.

The next day, scouting for fruit for my breakfast, I opened the dish. Gone was the brick red and yellow of the raw fruit. I was rewarded by royal purple fruit, tender, sweet (but not-so) and with that flavour back-note of tomatoes, which no doubt is part of the reason it is sometimes called a tree tomato in New Zealand, even though it is indigenous to the Andes of South America.

Tamarillo facts in a hurry:

Origin: South America, but grown commercially in New Zealand.

Nutrition: Low in fat and carbohydrates, high in potassium, low in sodium, trace elements copper and manganese, Vitamin A, B6 and C, Vitamin E and Thiamine, lutein (useful for eye health - macular)

Do what? Eat fresh, poach, add to cooked dishes - sweet or savoury, or juices.

Caveat: the skin is bitter and unpleasant to eat.

Store: refrigerate for up to two weeks or in  fruit bowl about a week.  Freeze whole (skins removed) or pureed.

Fun fact: It's a member of the nightshade family (but so are tomatoes and potatoes and a bunch more fruits and vegetables, even tobacco!) It is called 'Dutch eggplant' in Indonesia.

Know more......  and more...