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| A local trying out a Mum Mum outside Fiezel's Pastry shop Zam |
What on earth is Num Num, you may well ask?
Well, it seems as though they are becoming a rather fashionable
foraged fruit and I fully understand why. They are eye scrunchingly tart, yet
delicious. Here is South Africa they are also called a Natal Plumb, but their
proper name is Carissa and now that I have got my Num Num goggles on, I just
seem to notice them everywhere in our city.
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| Edgy stuff, foraging above the N2 Zam |
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| Mum Mum war wound Zam |
Take care; they come with a health warning. If you manage to
get past the long angry thorns to grab a few, then you must eat only the ripe
ones, because the green fruits are poisonous, dangerously so according to
Wikipedia. More than once have I had an iffy stomach from over-enthusiastic
foraging.
I am working on a project with the prestigious Monte Nelson
Hotel, where I take guests foraging in the city, and afterwards we go back to
the hotel, where executive chef Rudi Liebenberg prepares a meal with our foraged
bounty and serves it to the lucky guests, right there in the kitchen, at the
‘Chefs Table'.
Anyhow, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to chomp a wedge
of mouth puckeringly yummy Num Num Tarte Tatin that Vicky the head pastry chef
made. After two messy attempts a while back, I was again inspired to give a
Tatin another crack, but first I had to mission a few hundred meters down
the road to pluck a few Num Nums, then it was a short trot in the other
direction to buy a little puff pasty from Fiezel at his authentic Pastry shop. (Really good buttery pastry, I tell you)
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| I was thrilled with this, my first successful Tarte Tatin Me |
So armed with a non-stick pan, butter, sugar, pastry, Num
Nums and Vicky’s method in my memory bank, I made my first successful Tarte
Tatin. I must say I jolly pleased with the result, as were Fiezel and his
staff. Yeah for us…
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| Mum Mums, Natal Plumbs or Carissa Zam |
