Ehuru (gourdnutmeg) - not peeled

Ehuru, also called pèbé or Jamaican nutmeg, is a key ingredient in pepper soup, a Nigerian specialty, but also lends itself to many other uses. Ehuru is a completely different experience from our trusted "real" nutmeg.

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The calabash nutmeg (called ehuru in Nigerian, pèbé in Cameroon) is the nut of a tree native to an area stretching from Sierra Leone to Angola. It has always been an important spice in Africa, until the rise of the Asian nutmeg, with which it shares many similarities.

Ehuru is the seed of the Monodora myristica, a tree in the Custard Apple family. Like many other trees in this family, the myristica bears fruits that can be enormous (up to 40 cm) and packed with seeds. The seeds are embedded in a yellow pulp used in both savory and sweet dishes.

Ehuru combines beautifully with citrus notes, making it ideal for use with chicken dishes. Ehuru is essential in traditional Nigerian dishes, such as pepper soup. The ehuru nut is used as follows.

It's no substitute for nutmeg, which is gaining popularity in Africa at the expense of calabash nutmeg. This is a shame, because it has its own strong flavor and aroma, which best suits African cooking traditions. For example, in Kondres, a plantain dish, or Ewu, stewed goat, but by far the most famous use is in pepper soup.

Use whole nuts

Method 1: Cut open the nut, exposing the crumbly interior. Grind or pound it.

Method 2: Roast the nuts whole and grind them – whole – in the blender or a coffee mixer.

Use shelled nuts

Calabash nutmeg is not grated like regular nutmeg; simply pressing it or grinding it finely with a mortar and pestle is sufficient.

Smell and taste

The dried seeds contain 5-9% essential oils: α-phellandrene, α-pinene, myrene, limonene, and pinene. These give the seeds a slightly sweet but woody flavor and a peppery sharpness reminiscent of "real" nutmeg. Nevertheless, it's too easy to blindly consider the two nutmeg varieties as substitutes for each other. Both nuts have their own unique characteristics.

Usage

Calabash nutmeg is part of the spice mixture Mbongô tchòbi, which of course uses mbongo (Afromomum citratus), chili pepper (Capsicum) and garlic nut (Afrostyrax lepidophyllus) in addition to this ehuru, as well as the scorched bark of the garlic tree, Scorodophloeus zenkeri.

Features

• 100% berries of the Monodora myristica
• origin: Cameroon

Assortment

• available in glass (45 grams) and stand-up pouch (no test tubes)
• larger quantities on request

Gift wrapping

• The jar is available in a tasteful gift packaging, consisting of a cube box filled with black tissue paper.
• For an overview of our gift packaging, please refer to the gift packaging section.

Save:

• keep your ehuru in a closed container
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before ---
• This expiration date is an indication