Xakuxaku: "African chewing gum"

Xakuxaku - named after the smacking sound people make when chewing this sweet, sticky and chewy fruit. The outside of it can best be described as firm and fuzzy and its typically segmented into 5 parts with a round fuzzy seeds on the inside. It doesn't necessary have a flesh, but the outside extends into the inside (i'm trying hard to describe the indescribable here folks - language is limiting). There is a central bonding stem/navel as seen on the top left corner one and once you break that the segments come apart. You take out the 2 seeds attached to the segment and get your chew on! It is a very natural sweet most comparable to maple syrup, but not as intense. As you chew the segment the fibers it is made of start to loosen up and that is where the syrupy-ness and sweetness comes from. You can chew it for about a minute or two before the sweetness runs out and what is left is a fibrous dry lump I would best describe as meshy.

I think it typically grows in semi-arid to dry climates and is found mostly around spring time (July -September) in southern Africa. I grew up loving this rare treat as it was so much fun to chew and hear the unavoidable smacking it makes people do. A good neighbor in Bulawayo sent it to me through my cousin who was in Zimbabwe over the [American] summer.

I'm not sure who decided to call it "African chewing gum", but whoever it was was clearly struggling to conceptualize the fruit in English. I tried. How did I do? :)

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*@afropolitaine*