Ground Cherries aka Husk Cherries

What do ground cherries taste like? It’s hard to explain. Some describe them as a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. Others say a mix between a tomatillo and a grape. Since their flavor profile is somewhere between sweet, sour and umami, they work well in savory dishes as well as in desserts. Not a cherry at all, they are in the nightshade family along with tomatoes and tomatillos. The name comes from the fact that they are mainly harvested from the ground. Each “cherry” comes individually wrapped in its own husk that dries and drops to the ground when ripe.