Muratina

Ingredients

The fermenting fruit

• 2large ripe muratina fruits (Kigelia africana, the sausage tree), about 1.5 kg each
• water for washing

The brew

• 4 litresfresh sugarcane juice, or 4 litres water with 1 kg honey dissolved in it
• 1 litrewarm water

Vessels

• 1large gourd (kinya) or a scalded 10 litre food-grade crock
• cloth and cord for covering
• drinking horn (rukoro) or small gourd cups, for serving

Directions

1. Pick mature muratina fruits, wash them, and slice them into rounds or chunks about 3 cm thick.
2. Dry the pieces in the sun for several days, then roast or lightly char them over embers until they are hard and dark. Roasting kills off unwanted moulds and concentrates the sugars the wild yeasts live on.
3. Boil the roasted pieces in water for 10 minutes and drain. Traditionally the pieces are then soaked in honey or cane juice and dried again, and the same treasured pieces are reused for years, carrying the house culture like a sourdough starter.
4. Put the prepared fruit into the gourd and pour over the sugarcane juice or honey water. Top up with the warm water and stir with a clean wooden stick.
5. Cover with a cloth, not a lid: this is an active ferment and needs to breathe. Keep it at 22–30°C (70–85°F) in the shade.
6. Within 12 hours it will froth and hiss. Stir it twice a day and taste from the third day: it should be sharp, yeasty, faintly sweet and slightly fizzy, at roughly 4–6 percent alcohol.
7. Strain off the liquid through a clean cloth when the frothing slows and the sweetness has gone, usually on day 3 to 5. Left longer it turns to vinegar.
8. Keep the fruit pieces back, rinse and dry them, and store them for the next brew. Serve muratina cool, poured into a horn or a gourd cup, the eldest man served first at a wedding, dowry negotiation or council of elders.
9. Drink it within a day or two. It is a living brew with no preservative and it does not travel.

Technique

• Muratina is the name of the tree, the fruit and the drink. Among the Kikuyu it is ceremonial and was traditionally reserved for elders, with strict etiquette about who drinks and in what order.
• The fruit is the yeast vector, not a flavouring: the wild yeasts and bacteria on its dried surface start the ferment. Raw, unprocessed Kigelia fruit is considered toxic and is always dried and roasted first.
• Never add industrial spirits, methanol or anything to speed the ferment. Adulterated home brews kill people in Kenya every year, and the deaths are always from added spirit, not from the brew itself.
• Since Kenya’s alcohol legislation of 2010, muratina is a licensed traditional drink and can be legally brewed and sold with a permit.

Substitutions

• No muratina fruit: nothing truly replaces it, but a wild-yeast honey ferment with 1 kg honey to 4 litres water, started with unwashed organic raisins, is the closest in spirit.
• Sugarcane juice can be replaced with 800 g of raw jaggery or muscovado dissolved in the water.

Variations

• The honey version, considered the finest and the one used for dowry ceremonies.
• Kamba and Meru versions of the same fruit-started brew under different names.
• A short one-day ferment, sweet and barely alcoholic, made for daytime drinking.

History

The Kikuyu ferment it with slices of the sausage tree fruit that gives it its name; elders drink it to seal dowry talks and settle disputes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Muratina?

Muratina is a wine & spirit from Kenya: honey or sugarcane brew fermented with dried sausage-tree fruit, sipped from a horn. The Kikuyu ferment it with slices of the sausage tree fruit that gives it its name; elders drink it to seal dowry talks and settle disputes.

How long does Muratina take to make?

Muratina takes 45 min of preparation and 3 to 5 days fermentation, plus drying the fruit of cooking. The recipe makes 5 litres. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Muratina?

Yes, within limits. No muratina fruit: nothing truly replaces it, but a wild-yeast honey ferment with 1 kg honey to 4 litres water, started with unwashed organic raisins, is the closest in spirit. Sugarcane juice can be replaced with 800 g of raw jaggery or muscovado dissolved in the water.

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

Never add industrial spirits, methanol or anything to speed the ferment. Adulterated home brews kill people in Kenya every year, and the deaths are always from added spirit, not from the brew itself.