Marula fruit juice fermented for a few days into a cloudy tart wine. The Oshiwambo marula season is a communal festival inscribed by UNESCO, and the first pressing is offered to the elders.
Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, the ferment relies on wild yeasts on the fruit, and the fruit itself is gathered from wild trees over a few weeks a year.
What goes into it
- ripe marula fruit
- water
How it is made
Marula fruit is gathered as it falls, the skin pierced and the juice squeezed out by hand — the stone is kept for its kernel. The juice is left in a covered vessel for two to four days while wild yeasts on the fruit ferment it, and it is drunk cloudy and tart. It does not keep beyond the season.
How long it takes: two to four days
How it is eaten
From a shared container during the marula season, with the first pressing given to the elders.
History
The Oshiwambo marula season is a communal festival inscribed by UNESCO, with the first pressing offered to elders.
Frequently asked questions
What is Omagongo?
Omagongo is a wine & spirit from Namibia: marula fruit juice fermented a few days into a cloudy tart wine. The Oshiwambo marula season is a communal festival inscribed by UNESCO, with the first pressing offered to elders.
How is Omagongo made?
Marula fruit is gathered as it falls, the skin pierced and the juice squeezed out by hand — the stone is kept for its kernel. The juice is left in a covered vessel for two to four days while wild yeasts on the fruit ferment it, and it is drunk cloudy and tart. It does not keep beyond the season. It takes two to four days.
Can I make Omagongo at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, the ferment relies on wild yeasts on the fruit, and the fruit itself is gathered from wild trees over a few weeks a year.
What goes into Omagongo?
Ripe marula fruit, water.
How is Omagongo eaten?
From a shared container during the marula season, with the first pressing given to the elders.
