The goji berry, or wolfberry, is the small bright red-orange oblong fruit of a thorny nightshade shrub from north-central China, almost always sold and eaten dried. Chewy and leathery like a tiny elongated raisin, it tastes tangy-sweet with a faint savoury edge, something between a cranberry and a sun-dried tomato. For centuries it has flavoured Chinese soups, congee, stews and herbal tonic teas; in the West it arrived in the 2000s rebranded as an antioxidant superfood, scattered over smoothie bowls, granola and trail mix.