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 · a recipe collected on Santa Maria and documented production on São Miguel
Place: Azores · Santa Maria and São Miguel
Region: The Azores
Category: Fruit & Honey Sweets
Season: Year-round as a preserve; fruit harvested mainly in summer and autumn
Evidence: Well documented

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Doce de Tomate de Capucho is an Azorean preserve made from Physalis peruviana and sugar. Despite the word ‘tomato’, it does not use the ordinary red tomato: capucho is a small orange berry enclosed in a husk that turns brown when ripe. The fruit is also called rebuçado in the Azores.

The sources document more than one formula and they must not be merged. A recipe collected by Augusto Gomes on Santa Maria uses equal weights of fruit and sugar; a current Quintal dos Açores product made in Candelária, São Miguel, declares 70% capucho and 30% sugar. Sweetness, set and proportion therefore depend on the recipe or producer.

Ingredients

capucho fruit (Physalis peruviana)
sugar

Taste & texture

DGADR describes the fruit as combining strawberry, kiwi and redcurrant; in the preserve, that fruit profile is balanced by an amount of sugar that varies between documented formulas.

Variations

The Santa Maria recipe published by Augusto Gomes uses equal weights of fruit and sugar and a process involving a rest in water; the current Quintal dos Açores label declares 70% fruit and 30% sugar. Doce de capucho and doce de tomate de capucho name this family, but not one standardised formula.

Where to try it

At shops specialising in Azorean products. Marca Açores lists Cooperativa Celeiro da Terra’s Doce de Tomate de Capucho in Povoação, while Quintal dos Açores makes Doce de Capucho in Candelária, both on São Miguel.

Pairs well with

The primary sources reviewed document the fruit eaten fresh or as a preserve but do not establish a canonical accompaniment.

History

Capucho originated in the Andes. DGADR cites an Azorean description published by Edmond Goeze in 1867; regional heritage documentation dates Goeze’s journey to São Miguel to 1866 and publication of his account to the following year. The same DGADR record notes small-scale canned-jam production by Sociedade Corretora Micaelense, founded by Cristiano Pacheco in the early twentieth century. Augusto Gomes included a Santa Maria recipe in his 1998 collection. In 2019, Doce de Tomate de Capucho was nominated for the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Sweets in the Fruit and Honey Sweets category. Marca Açores continues to list the product made by Cooperativa Celeiro da Terra in Povoação.

Documentary basis

Well documented

10 sources

Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.

How we assess sources and uncertainty →

Well documented

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