Corfu is famous for olive oil, kumquat and traditional dishes, but the island also has a fascinating world of old-fashioned fruits that many visitors never notice. Some still grow in village gardens, beside country roads or in small family orchards, while others have almost disappeared from local markets. As someone who grew up in Corfu, several of these fruits immediately remind me of older gardens, grandparents and the days when people simply picked whatever was ripe from the tree. Here are 12 Corfu fruits you may never have tried.
9Jujubes – Tzitzifa or Tzintzoles
One of the fruits most likely to puzzle a visitor is the jujube.
In Corfu you may hear names such as tzitzifa or tzintzoles. Fresh ones look a little like small brown-green apples and have firm, crisp flesh.
As they ripen they become sweeter and softer. Traditionally Corfiots also dried them for winter or preserved them in different ways.
They are one of those fruits that many younger visitors to Greece have never even seen.
Health benefits: Fresh jujubes contain vitamin C, fibre and antioxidant plant compounds. Dried jujubes are much more concentrated in natural sugars and calories, so fresh and dried fruit are nutritionally quite different.
When to look for them: Early to mid-autumn.
