Mystery produce from African market
I went to the African market up near the Château Rouge metro here in Paris, and I bought a bag of these small, purple seed pods that maybe 30 vendors were selling from bags on the curb. I have no idea what they are or what to do with them. On the outside, they are hard like a gourd, and on the inside they are filled with four or five large seeds. They smell citrusy and taste a bit like lemon.
Here is a picture... anyone with an idea or an answer, please help me out!
By dgaucher
on Aug 18, 2010 12:20 PM
View »
They are safou fruit, from the safou tree or safoutier (Dacryodes edulis). A much-loved fruit in Central Africa and parts of Western Africa. Very common in Cameroon, Gabon and Congo. They should be steamed, boiled, broiled or baked for a few minutes. The cooked flesh is soft and buttery with a slightly acidic taste, but the safou fruit may also be eaten raw. It is generally consumed as a vegetable, with a little salt. Very delicious. It contains a lot of fatty acids like avocado (22%), a rather high dose of protein (12%), and is rich in vitamins A and C. In spite of that, it is supposed to insure good sleep when eaten at evening dinner. Congratulations to you, I like it when people try strange foods.
Permalink | Reply
Hey who needs Wikipedia when we have WikiPti'?
Permalink | Reply
pti needs to edit the wiki! http://translate.google.com/translate...
Permalink | Reply
"Congratulations to you, I like it when people try strange foods."
So do we. In the Friday afternoon Anvers market, our Weird Vegetablee Lady introduced us to cerfeuil tubéreux and crosnes, much to our delight. Vive la viodiversité!
May I be so vulgar as to relink Hubby Poo's article on WVL and her WV.
http://www.paris-update.com/fr/index....
Permalink | Reply
Merci b'coup! I'll give them a try tonight!
Permalink | Reply
Someone gave me a tip for cooking safou. Contrary to what I wrote above, it shouldn't be boiled, boiling it hardens the flesh. Here is the method :
Boil water in a large saucepan.
Add whole safou fruit and remove from heat immediately. Cover with a lid.
Wait 4 or 5 minutes, then drain and eat.
Permalink | Reply
Just an update- I cooked the fruit by heating it in a pot of freshly boiled water. It had a taste of intense lemon zest, but was without sourness, and was starchy and granular like a floury potato. I don't know if I got the highest quality fruit as some vendors at the market were selling much prettier ones than those I bought, but I have a feeling it would be good steamed. A good food experiment.
Permalink | Reply
I wish i were in Paris...for many reasons, but at the moment because i would love to get my hands (and mouth) on some safou. I have actually been trying to figure out the real name of the fruit for years. I lived in Cameroon and knew it only by its local name, but i ADORED it and always eagerly awaited its seasonal appearance. Where i lived in Cameroon, it was always grilled/roasted and eaten hot off the coals. Yum....try it that way and you will never go back! It makes the flesh creamy and the skin a little crunchy....just bite right in and suck it off the seed. Damn. Wish i could find them here in California...
Permalink | Reply