Emaganu

Ingredients

The fruit

• ripe marula fruit, emaganu
• gathered from under the tree

Equipment

• nothing at all
• or a bowl, for collecting

Sometimes made into

• buganu, the fermented brew
• juice, squeezed and strained
• jam, cooked with sugar

Directions

1. Take the ones that are pale yellow and soft. Fruit that has lain too long ferments.
2. Rinse the fruit if it is dusty. Never gather from sprayed ground.
3. Squeeze and suck the juice and flesh out. Work at the stone until the flesh is gone.
4. Squeeze a quantity of fruit into a bowl. Press the flesh off the stones by hand.
5. Strain the juice through a cloth. It is sharp and needs sweetening.
6. Add sugar or honey to taste in it. Drink it cold and entirely fresh.
7. Oil is also pressed out of it.

Technique

• Buganu is the fermented marula brew, and Eswatini holds an annual royal festival for it with the Queen Mother presiding, at which women present the brew they have made.
• The story that elephants get drunk on fermented marula fruit is repeated very widely, but researchers have examined it and found it implausible on the quantities involved.
• Marula fruit is high in vitamin C, containing considerably more than an orange by weight, and arrives at the end of the dry season.

Substitutions

• There is no substitute, since the fruit is specific to the tree and its short season.
• Marula also reaches the wider world as the base of a commercial cream liqueur.

Variations

• The fruit is brewed into buganu, squeezed into juice or cooked with sugar into jam.
• The kernel inside the stone is cracked out and eaten, and oil is pressed from it.
• The same fruit is called marula across most of southern Africa.

History

Ripens in Eswatini in February; the same fruit is brewed into buganu, celebrated with a royal festival each year.

Frequently asked questions

What is Emaganu?

Emaganu is a snack from Eswatini: marula fruit sucked from the skin, sharp and resinous. Ripens in Eswatini in February; the same fruit is brewed into buganu, celebrated with a royal festival each year.

How long does Emaganu take to make?

Emaganu takes 5 minutes of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes varies. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Emaganu?

Yes, within limits. There is no substitute, since the fruit is specific to the tree and its short season. Marula also reaches the wider world as the base of a commercial cream liqueur.

What is the most important thing to get right in Emaganu?

Rinse the fruit if it is dusty. Never gather from sprayed ground.