Tamarillo

The tamarillo, Solanum betaceum, is an egg-shaped fruit from a small tree or shrub in the nightshade family, native to the Andes of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and neighboring countries. Its skin and the layer just beneath it are bitter and not usually eaten, while the flesh inside ranges from tart in red-skinned fruit to sweeter in yellow and orange varieties, with a flavor often compared to passion fruit or tomato. It is eaten in many ways depending on region, scooped straight from a halved fruit for breakfast in New Zealand, blended into juice in South America, or cooked into chutneys, pickles, and spicy sauces in Nepal, India, and Ecuador. The name tamarillo was coined deliberately in 1966 by New Zealand growers looking for a more appealing alternative to the older name tree tomato.