On a cold and frosty morning

[venta]

Today's burning question: does anyone actually like dried mulberries?

My box o' nibbles from Graze[*] arrived today. One of the things it contained was a snack called "round the mulberry bush" (they name all their snacks, I don't know why) which contained raisins and dried white mulberries.

Dried mulberries look like dessicated clumps of insect eggs. When eaten, they have a nasty dry texture to the outside and a disturbingly (especially given their appearance) squodgy texture on the inside. They appear to taste like raisins - presumably due to proximity - so I'm assuming they don't have a whole lot of taste themselves.



See? Scary, aren't they?

I'm not sure I want to finish the box off, but I'm fearing that they might hatch if I don't. But if I do, they might hatch in me....

Even the other pictures of mulberries on Wikipedia all look vaguely frightening.

Will anyone speak out for the mulberry?

[*] In defence of Graze, the things they usually send me are very nice. I have loads of get-a-free-box codes if anyone wants to try them out.

Comments

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

You sound like you might know... why can't we get damsons commercially? The only time I ever find the fruit, as opposed to the jam (which is also ridiculously hard to find, usually only represented by one brand), is when I go to the village I grew up in and buy it from the WI or school fete or similar. Because there are damson trees in a couple of gardens there. I don't even know anyone with damson trees, and I know a surprising number of people with fruit trees.

(I have looked into buying one but time has always been against me when I had the money, and vice versa. They're quite a bit more expensive than apple trees.)

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

It's largely because damsons don't fruit very reliably, so there aren't many commercial growers. Plus they're quite sharp and popular tastes, particularly in recent years, have been towards sweeter fruits and vegetables (think 'sugarsnap' peas and 'supersweet' baby sweetcorn).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Damsons are a closed book to me, I'm afraid (Damsons in Distress, by Prunus Drupe), but what valkyriekaren says above sounds very plausible.