African medlar

What it is

The fruit is almost round, about 3–6.5 cm (1.2–2.6 in) long. Its green skin turns light brown as it ripens, and the flesh inside softens. Ripe flesh is mealy, with a sweet-sour taste like an apple.

Under the leathery skin, three to five seeds sit in the pulp. At the tip is a small scar left by the flower's base. The botanical name is Vangueria infausta; wild medlar is another English name.

Where it comes from

African medlar grows across eastern and southern Africa, from Kenya and Uganda through Tanzania and Mozambique to Botswana and South Africa. It also grows in Madagascar. Its homes include woodland, rocky ridges and hillsides, wooded grassland and sand dunes near the sea. In Oyemeni, in South Africa’s northern KwaZulu-Natal, its isiZulu name is umViyo.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Oyemeni, umBhantshi starts with ripe fruit crushed by hand into water. The skins and seeds come out, leaving a puree. That puree is stirred into uPhuthu, crumbly maize porridge, or umCaba, crushed maize that has already been boiled. Some cooks add sugar.

The fruit also flavours soft maize porridge. Its pulp can go into the cooking water before the maize meal, or into the finished porridge. Some Oyemeni cooks add the pulp to fermenting traditional beer, and to amaHewu, fermented maize porridge, to make it more sour.

How it's grown

African medlar is a tree 3–8 m (10–26 ft) tall that loses its leaves seasonally, with grey-brown bark that peels in flakes. It needs plenty of light and grows slowly, about 40–50 cm (16–20 in) a year, but it withstands long dry spells and frost. It is rarely grown as a crop. Fresh seed and cuttings both produce new plants; seed is cleaned of its surrounding skin and pulp before sowing.

When and where you'll find it

In southern Africa, the tree usually fruits from November to April. Most of the fruit is eaten raw. In some places it is also dried and stored, to be eaten when food is scarce.