Winter 2020, Wild Things, RecipesTorrey Douglass

Toyon

Winter 2020, Wild Things, RecipesTorrey Douglass
Toyon

California’s Christmas Berry

by Torrey Douglass


Toyon berries (or pomes) can be found along the entire California coast, and its nickname, “Christmas berry,” is well earned. It boasts festive small, bright red berries October through January, and at one point was so popular for foragers making wild-sourced holiday wreaths that the state passed a law prohibiting their collection on public lands. Toyon is a shrub, but it can grow quite large—up to 8 feet in chaparral, scrubland, and mixed-oak woodland habitats—and its drought-tolerance, fire resistance (if healthy), and ability to grow in different types of soil make it an ideal choice for erosion control and pollinator support.

The scientific name for Toyon is Heteromeles arbutifolia. Heteromeles means “different apple” in Greek, while arbutifolia is Latin for “strawberry tree leaves,” since the oblong leaves with serrated edges mirror those on strawberry plants. The berries are not particularly tasty on their own—mealy, acidic, and astringent. But you can coax a gentle sweetness from them through either drying or boiling. They can then be ground into flour and added to trail mix if dried, or, if boiled, simmered into a berry cider, added to pancake batter, or made into a kind of wild equivalent to cranberry sauce.

Another option for utilizing these winter gems is a sweet and chewy fruit leather. Chef and wild food expert, Alicia Funk, uses the following recipe for her Toyon berry fruit leather. Try it out for a yummy foraged snack.

Toyon Berry Fruit Leather

  • 4 cups fresh Toyon berries

  • ½ cup water

  • Lemon juice

  • Manzanita sugar, agave or honey

  • Cinnamon

  • Nutmeg

Collect berries in the winter, then rinse and remove stems. Place in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add desired sweetener, lemon juice, and spices to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes, then blend through a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour a thin layer—about 1/8” thick—onto a baking sheet. Let dry in the oven, food dehydrator, or place in the sun covered with cheesecloth. Cut into strips and enjoy!

Find more recipes from Alicia Funk at The Living Wild Project | LivingWild.org
Photo by docentjoyce from Los Osos, U.S.A., CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons