Raspberry

Rubus idaeus · Berry

1 variety40 pairings

The raspberry is the soft, jewel-red aggregate fruit of Rubus idaeus, a thorny cane-growing bramble in the rose family. Each berry is a thimble-shaped cluster of dozens of tiny, velvety drupelets that lifts cleanly off its core when picked, leaving the hollow centre that tells a raspberry from a blackberry. Intensely sweet-tart and perfumed, it is eaten fresh and turned into jam, coulis, liqueur and the fruit at the heart of countless desserts.

Picking a good onedrag

Dry, loose, perfumedWeeping, fuzzed, fermenting

Shop freshTarts, pavlova, folded into cream or yoghurt at the last minute.Everyday best

ColourRed all over, a shade paler at the tip

The hollowOpening clean, rim just darkening

In the punnetMost roll, one or two stuck

Smell at the lidFaintly sweet close up

What to look for, from dry, loose, perfumed to weeping, fuzzed, fermenting.

What one gives you

96%

Usable yield

1.9 g · caps, stems, bad berries out

1.98 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 2× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

Damp air, dry fruit: free water is what starts grey mould, so wash the handful you are eating and never the punnet you are keeping.

Airflow

Vented punnet, never sealed

Keep it in the vented punnet, one layer deep, and get it cold fast. Sealed it sweats, and mould walks from berry to touching berry.

Makes it, and answers to it

Unusual for a berry — it makes ethylene and answers to it. Keep it clear of apples and bananas: theirs darkens the fruit and feeds grey mould.

Preparing