Azorean Capucho Jam

Also known as: Azorean Cape Gooseberry Jam · Capucho Jam · Azorean Physalis Preserve

An Azorean preserve of capucho, the golden berry locally known as rebuçado.

Origin: Azores · with documented production on São Miguel
Region: Azores · Povoação, São Miguel
Season: Year-round as a preserve; fruit harvested mainly in summer and autumn

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Doce de Tomate de Capucho is an Azorean preserve made from the orange berry of Physalis peruviana, sugar and, depending on the maker, an acidic element. The fruit contains many tiny seeds that remain visible in a translucent amber-to-orange jam. Its flavour combines lively acidity with sweetness and notes that official documentation compares to strawberry, kiwi and redcurrant.

Despite the word ‘tomato’, this is not ordinary tomato jam. Capucho is a small fruit enclosed in a thin calyx that turns brown and papery when ripe. In the Azores it is also called rebuçado, a name sometimes transferred to the preserve itself.

Ingredients

capucho fruit (Physalis peruviana)
sugar

Taste & texture

Sweet-tart, fruity and lightly acidic, with fine seeds and an aroma between red berries and tropical fruit.

Variations

It may be smooth or retain pieces of fruit, and some recipes add lemon. Doce de capucho, doce de tomate-capucho and doce de rebuçado can refer to the same family.

Where to try it

At Azorean product shops and Cooperativa Celeiro da Terra in Povoação, São Miguel, whose production carries the Marca Açores identity.

Pairs well with

Corn bread, fresh cheese, yoghurt or bolo lêvedo.

History

Capucho originated in the Andes but has been documented in the Azores since at least 1867, when Edmond Goeze, gardener at the University of Coimbra Botanical Garden, described it during a journey through the islands. DGADR records that small-scale canned-jam production began in the early twentieth century at Sociedade Corretora Micaelense, founded by Cristiano Pacheco. In 2019, Doce de Tomate de Capucho was nominated for the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Sweets in the Fruit and Honey Sweets category. It remains commercially available: Cooperativa Celeiro da Terra in Povoação lists 50- and 250-gram versions in the Marca Açores catalogue.

Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt · marcaacores.pt · marcaacores.pt · marcaacores.pt · caruspinus.pt

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