Fruit
Raspberry
FrambuesaGerdRubus idaeus
It's hollow inside, which is why it squashes if you so much as look at it. In return it smells so good that a handful perfumes a whole pudding.
When
Around: Jun–Sept · At its best: Jul
Around: Jun–Sept · At its best: Jul
Around: Dec–Mar · At its best: Jan
Around here
In Catalan it's called gerd. Wild raspberries grow in clearings and along woodland edges in the Pyrenees, small and very fragrant; if you go looking, keep away from tracks and roads. Most of what reaches the market is cultivated, and in summer you'll also see some from small mountain growers.
At the market
- Deep, even colour, dry and whole, with that velvety look.
- Check the bottom of the punnet: if it's stained or wet, there are squashed ones and mould won't be far behind.
- They should smell: a raspberry with no scent is just a colour.
- Leave pale or hard ones: they won't ripen once picked.
At home
- Pick out any bruised ones as soon as you get home: mould jumps from one to the next.
- In the fridge, unwashed, in a single layer on kitchen paper: one or two days.
- If you wash them, do it just before and under a gentle trickle: they soak up water like a sponge.
If you have too much
- Freeze them spaced out on a tray, then bag them: perfect for smoothies and tarts.
- Quick jam: it sets in no time and keeps lots of flavour.
- Raspberry vinegar: a few days in white wine vinegar, strained and bottled, for dressings.
- Strained coulis, for ice cream, yoghurt or a dry sponge that needs rescuing.
In the kitchen
- On their own or with a little cream, no fuss.
- In a salad with melon, mint and fresh cheese.
- With peach, melba-style: peach, raspberry and vanilla ice cream.
- In a blackberry and raspberry crumble at the end of summer.
- On a yoghurt cake or a chocolate fondant.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 52 kcal
- Water
- 86% water
- Carbs
- 11.9 g
- Sugars
- 4.4 g
- Fibre
- 6.5 g
- Protein
- 1.2 g
Stands out for
- High in vitamin C26.2 mg · 33% of what you need in a day
- High in fibre6.5 g
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
Goes with
- PeachJun–OctPeach, nectarine and flat peach are the same species: a nectarine is a peach without fuzz, and the flat peach a squashed one. The one you can peel with your hands, dripping down to your elbow, is the one that was perfect.
- MelonJun–SeptPicking a melon is famously a lottery, and there's some truth in that. But they don't all behave alike: cantaloupes keep ripening at home, while piel de sapo barely does.
- BlackberryAug–SeptSummer's freest fruit, if you don't mind a few scratches. You'll know you've been blackberrying by your purple fingers and your T-shirt, which is beyond saving.
- CherryMay–JulThe cherry is the fruit you eat standing at the stall, «just one more». The season is short and cherries don't ripen after picking, so what you buy is what you get.