Southern Africa · Dessert
Oombe (Wild Bird Plum Paste)
A rich, naturally sweet and tangy confection made by reducing wild bird plums with wild honey and crushed melon seeds.
The story
In northern Namibia's Owamboland, the fruit of the Berchemia discolor tree, known locally as oombe, is harvested and sun-dried for long preservation. This nourishing sweet paste is traditionally made by mothers as a travel ration for cattle herders and as a festival confection during traditional harvest celebrations. Technically, the high natural pectin and concentrated fructose in sundried oombe allows the paste to set firm without commercial gelatin or starches.
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