If you’re in southern Italy you will hopefully encounter mulberries, on trees and in granita!
The Italian word for mulberry is gelso. One morning in Puglia as I was talking a walk, I came upon a huge White Mulberry tree. I chatted with the local men who were feasting on the fruit. They told me the tree is over a hundred years old. White Mulberries are a super food, so I joined in on the feasting.
Mulberries are rich in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They also support healthy blood sugar levels,and the leaf can be made into a tea that helps with diabetes.
Or forget the tea and go for a mulberry granita!
I would love to hear what those cute little old men are saying! Can you translate their Italian? Also, where can i get some Mulberry Leaf tea? Those fruits looked really really tasty!
Hey Kat,
The part where the brown vest man was up on the wall and talking to me, we are talking about the local area. He was commenting on how Puglia is surrounded by sea (Adriatic up one side and Ionian up the other) and he was telling me which me beach he likes best. At the beginning they were mostly telling me what mulberries are called in their dialect, and brown vest man was worrying that I didn’t understand. Glad you enjoyed it!
Oh and Mulberry leaf tea, I had said originally in the video that Dr. Andrew Weil recommends a cup of white Mulberry leaf tea before each meal but the random person I got to film me somehow stopped the video when I was saying that part. Go here for organic white Mulberry leaf tea, which balances blood sugar levels: https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mulberry-Cholesterol-Caffeine-Convenient/dp/B0092G1HI2
In the dialect of Manduria, provincia di Taranto, the gelso and its fruit are called siàuzu. My husband, who has been in the US more than 50 years, remembered (probably because they were a staple of his childhood), and we confirmed in our vocabolario del dialetto.
Cool! Good to know 🙂
I am sure they switched to the Italian in order to talk to me! Their accents are fun though, huh?
My mothers family was from that area. We had a summer home in Greenport NY and she and my grandmother planted one there. I used to pick them and eat them ! Delicious! Now I know why she put one there. Reminded them of the homeland!!
Hi Virginia, Thanks for sharing that. It was a white (and not red) Mulberry that they planted? Did your mother and grandmother make any jams or teas with the fruit or leaves, or just eat them straight off the tree?
Yes we had one white and one one red. No we never made tea but we enjoyed picking and eating them.