a small tree or shrub of which varieties grow in Europe, N. Asia, and N. America, bearing small, round, cherry-like fruits which are eaten in some countries.
The best fruit of any Old World species is that of Cornus mas, commonly called cornel or cornelian cherry. It is bright red and may be as large as a small plum. The flavour is acid and slightly bitter. The fruit was formerly used in W. Europe to make pies, sauces, and confectionery, or pickled as a substitute for olives.
It is perhaps in Turkey that the fruits are most prominent. Evelyn Kalças (1974) writes:
It is to be found in late summer piled on huge trays in Turkish markets and fruit shops. Though not considered very tasty by most westerners, I have found the tartness quite tasty, and the jelly or jam made from it is flavorsome. A number of the whole fruit taken from the jam can be added to any fruit salad as an attractive and tasty contrast. There is a fascinating Turkish legend about this fruit. It seems that when Seytan—the Devil—first saw the Kizilcik tree covered with blossoms when no other fruit showed even a bud, he said to himself: ‘Aha! This tree will produce fruit first of all. I must be first there to secure it.’ So he gathered up his scales and basket and took up his position under the tree. He waited and waited, but all other fruit trees came into bloom and fruit formed on them. Still the Kizilcik fruit was not ready and ripe for eating. Seytan was patient, but he wondered what had happened. Then to his great surprise he discovered that this was one of the very last fruits to ripen at the end of summer, so his chagrin was great. Ever since then the Turks have called the tree:—‘Seytan alditan agaci’—the tree that deceived Satan.
The same author relates, as evidence of the use of the tree in antiquity, that the famous and un-untieable Gordian knot was formed from a thong of its leathery bark. (Alexander the Great, acquainted with the problem, drew his sword and severed the knot, then went on to fulfil the prophecy that whoever could undo it would conquer the world.)
Fernald and Kinsey (1943) cite a report by the great Swedish botanist Linnaeus that the Lapps used to make a ‘dainty’ using the berry of C. suecica mixed with whey, then boiled until the mass was as thick as flummery. After the stones had been strained out, this pudding would be eaten served with cream.
American dogwoods include the miner's dogwood, C. sessilis, whose fruits are sweet when fully ripe, and the less flavourful bunchberry, C. canadensis. Both these and others were widely used by Indians.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Fernald, M. L., and Kinsey, A. C. (1943), Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Idlewild Press.
Kalças, Evelyn Lyle (1974), Food from the Fields, Izmir: Birlik Matbaasy+.
