Subject: Edible barberry? "Zereshk"

From: [email-masked] (Brad Daniels)
Date: 2 Apr 1996 16:08:47 -0600

I have developed a fondness for the Persian dish "zereshk polo", which
is made from barberries with sugar and onions.  I was thinking it would
be nice to grow the berries myself, since I rather like the look of the
barberry plants I've seen, but I've discovered that there are a great many
species of the genus berberus, and I would not like to get one that tastes
bad, or worse yet is poisonous (though I doubt there are any such...)
Does anyone know the scientific name for the species of barberry used in
Iranian cooking?

Also, as long as I'm on the subject, does anyone know the scientific name
or at least the common English name of "albaloo"?  I tried ordering albaloo
polo one time, but I got a dish with dried cherries, which is definitely
not the same as the dried albaloo I tasted once.

Thanks!
- Brad
-- 
Brad Daniels			|  "Let others praise ancient times.
[email-masked]		|   I am glad I was born in these."
I don't work for NeoSoft, and	|	- Ovid (43 B.C. - 17 A.D)
don't speak for my employer.	|

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From: [email-masked] (Simin Hemmati-rasmussen)
Date: 3 Apr 1996 14:48:52 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>,
>not the same as the dried albaloo I tasted once.

Dear Brad, Albaloo is a seasonal fruit in Iran. You can find fresh albaloo
in late June. It is dark with a sweet/sour taste. If ordering albaloo poloo
out of season you get a dish  made either from dry albaloo or jam.

The fruit close to albaloo in US is called sour cherries or tart cherries.
Wisconsin is known to be the sour cherry capital of the US and the first
picking is done around July 4th. The American sour cherry is lighter in
color and does not have the same sweet/sour taste as Persian albaloo. It is 
also very delicate and hard to ship to stores. It is usually pitted on 
site at processing plants and mixed with lots of sugar and corn starch 
for cherry pie.

In Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, summer" farmers market" sell fresh 
sour cherries for about 2 weeks as the season is a real short one.

Iranian stores generally have Persian dried albaloo for sale. I hope this
information is of help to you.

ShAd zi,
Simin

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From: [email-masked] (Brad Daniels)
Date: 3 Apr 1996 16:39:43 -0600

A kind soul informed me that "albaloo" is in fact "Sour Cherry" in English,
and now I'm looking for more info on the thing.  I wanted to get the
scientific name, how big it typically gets, and also some info on how
well it would do in the Houston climate (Around 7C in winter, 35C in
summer, occasional freezes lasting no more than a day or so, 30C or
warmer from late April to early October, lots of rain in May and June,
very dry in July and August.)

A pointer to an on-line reference would be wonderful, or if there's a
particular book my local library is likely to have, that would be
great, too.   Of course, if someone wants to look it up for me, I
would be greatly obliged, though I frequently have questions about how
best to cultivate certain plants and how well they'll do in the local
climate, so info on good reference material would be great in any
case.  For example, I'm also trying to find out whether bay laurel is
a bush or a tree.  I bought a tiny one a year ago and put it in a
medium-sized pot.  At the moment, it's looking like a bush, but I'm
not sure how/if I should train it, or where I should plant it.
Actually, I'm a little concerned I may just have a cutting of a branch
which took root, since it's always had full-sized leaves which look
kind of out of proportion to the thing, and because it has leaves
coming out all up and down the main stem...  I'm not sure if it will
ever develop normally, and I'm clueless as to how to find out.

Thanks for any help you can give,
- Brad

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From: [email-masked] (Soheila Amiri)
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 14:46:31 GMT

>Brad Daniels <[email-masked]> wrote:
[snip]

>>not the same as the dried albaloo I tasted once.

[snip]

I recently received a new form of AlbAloo from Iran which I had
not seen before in the stores.  It is pitted albAloo and is wet,
meaning it is maintained in its natural juices.  It is far different
>from  the dried AlbAloo and it is much more sour, perfect for AlbAloo
polo.  I have already tried it and it tastes pretty close to using
fresh AlbAlo for this dish.  Perhaps you can have someone bring it
for you.  The price at the time was 1,500 tomans a kilo which translated
to about $3.75 a kilo.

Regards,
Soheila