Gambeya albida
| Gambeya albida | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Sapotaceae |
| Genus: | Chrysophyllum |
| Species: | C. africanum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chrysophyllum africanum | |
Chrysophyllum africanum[inconsistent] (commonly known as African star apple[1]) is a forest fruit tree commonly found throughout tropical Africa.[1]
Amongst the Yoruba of Nigeria, it is called agbalumo, while it is called characteristically-called udala (udara) among the Igbo, with the usage of the latter term, coincidentally, also permeating across much of southern Nigeria (i.e., further east of Akoko-Ondo) the northern (Hausa-Fulani) parts of the country. One local enduring sobriquet is derived from the Yoruba agbalumo, i.e., ‘agbaluma,’ and is used in certain parts of Nigeria.
The inherent sweetness of a child (or person of especially-seasoned cognisance/age who otherwise displays certain amiability-desirable characteristics representative of children and/or well-adjusted adults, e.g., well-roundedness, joviality, unassuming understanding) has been likened to the fruit in Igbo, as ‘udala nwannu.’
Although its culinary (and overall) exploitation have/has not been known to expand beyond the province of simply eating the much-prized fruit, subjective advocates have been made across certain lines suggesting its wood be used to smoke certain foods in a Nigerian/Igbo context (some curiously-experimental, some conventional) as shawarma meat, ofe akwu (banga stew), cast-iron-‘potted’ jollof rice, coconut rice, efo-riro, ofe-egusi, okro soups, [pumpkin] yam porridge and ofe-oha. The foods that occupy a certain intermediate position between ofe-ora and jollof rice, which assume more of a definitively-concrete culinary stamp among the Igbo than the Yoruba and other non-Igbo ethnic groups, are especially-advocated for in certain esoterically-subjective circles as especially-benefiting from the infusion of the ‘tropical apple-wood smoke’ that would be imparted by way of corresponding usage of said tree-wood. These foods may be summarised as, in a no-means exhaustive list, banga rice {which essentially-represents to ofe akwu what jollof rice does to white rice and [red] stew}, all manner of transitional forms between banga rice and conventional jollof rice (helped by the addition of coconut) and okra soup (ofe-okwuru/okwulu) wherein prominent ingredients include ehuru (Calabash nutmeg), seafood, uziza (false cubeb), lamb and chicken and/or turkey meat. The heretofore-stringently-protected meat of flamingo has also been subjectively-deemed as fitting protein-compliments for these potentially-rendered dishes or even to take the place of (or compliment) (smoked) meat of any kind, in this futuristic model smoked specially with the wood of udala.
.[2] It is closely related to the African star apple(Chrysophyllum africanum) which is also common throughout West Africa. Some schools of thought feel that they may just be a variety of the same species. Also in the family is the purple star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito).[2]
References
- ^ a b "Gambeya albida". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
{{citation}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b Lost Crops of Africa: Volume III: Fruits. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2008. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-309-10596-5.
- National Research Council. 2008. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume III: Fruits. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11879
External links
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National Research Council. 2008. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume III: Fruits. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11879