Marula

A tropical fruit called marula has much in common with the plums known to us, which are initially colored green, but become oily yellow as they mature. The fruits of this exotic fruit are covered with a soft leathery shell, which is quite thick. Under this crust you can find white liquid flesh, in which there is a large and hard stone stone.

Marula fruits have not only a sweet taste and a rich smell - they are known for their high content of vitamin C in the pulp. In addition, many other vitamins and minerals are present in the bone of this fruit. Therefore, we can say that marula is a real treasure of Africa, which, according to archaeological findings, has served as an important source of food for many African tribes for more than a hundred centuries.

African cooking makes extensive use of all parts of the marula fruit. So, from the peel of fruits, a specific tasty drink like tea is obtained, and when toasted and crushed, the skin serves as an alternative to coffee. In addition, it is known to use the core of marula seeds, which is unusually rich in protein, so the oil obtained from them contains natural antioxidants and oleic acid. This natural remedy is used as a local face cosmetics.

However, the main application of marula fruits remains the use of this African fruit in the culinary field. With great pleasure, the children drink chilled juice based on marula pulp, which in turn is used in the preparation of exotic local dishes. From fruits according to traditional recipes, sweets, jelly and jam are most often made, and they also make a special khmelsky braga on their basis by pre-soaking ripe fruits in water. This is, one might say, the original local recipe.

To do this, mature fruits are placed in a vessel that does not allow air to pass. There they are aged for two days, after which juice is squeezed out of the soaked fruits, which is poured into closed dishes for another four days. They claim that a ready-made drink with a sour taste that has fermented under the scorching sun of Africa acts on a person "like a blow with a hoof of a mule"! By the way, about two hundred marula fruits are needed to prepare one liter of intoxicating braga.

And, of course, one cannot but remember that in South Africa the famous Amarula Creme is made from marula - creamy marul liquor. It is somewhat reminiscent of the world famous liqueurs Baileys and Caroline, but thanks to the addition of juice, this African fruit is distinguished by a peculiar taste and smell.