A couple of months ago while having dessert with friends I pronounced that raspberries were my favourite soft fruit. This brought an hour of redicule - not because I chose raspberries, an obviously excellent choice - but because I used the term 'soft fruit'.
Is it a valid expression? What is included in the 'soft fruit' category? If a fruit isn't a soft fruit what is it?
I wilted under the barrage of questions. I didn't have all the answer at my fingertips. I don't think I was believed. I therefore loved this email when I received it:
OK, I know we all mocked "soft fruit" when spoken so eloquently by Mr Elliot in recent times, but I had to chuckle when I came across this passage in "Wolf Hall" (book about Thomas Cromwell in ye olde England - aka 1500's)
"When Sir Henry, who is fond of soft fruit, has eaten some fat brambles with yellow cream, he says....."
Richie - are you sure you're not connected to royalty somehow??
For the record:
A soft fruit is anything grown on a bush.
Every other fruit is classified as a 'top fruit'
And sadly, no I'm not related to royalty.
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Bummer! Oh well.. Maybe next life perhaps :) I didn't know of soft and top fruit at all!
ReplyDeleteYou'll always be considered royalty to us Richie! Love the soft fruit.
ReplyDeleteYou are too kind Penne
ReplyDeleteDear Richard.M.Elliot (esq.),
ReplyDeleteWhat about things like mulberries that grow on very large trees? And the mangos you see in shops usually come from trees two stories high? Certainly no bush there. Less we mention plums, peaches and nectarines.
Is a strawberry plant a bush?
A more robust definition is needed if you are going to grab the low hanging fruit that is 'soft fruit'. Royalty or no royalty.