Ehuru (gourdnutmeg) - not peeled

Ehuru, also called pèbé or Jamaican nutmeg, is an important ingredient in pepper soup, a specialty from Nigeria, but also lends itself to many other applications. Ehuru is a completely different experience from our trusted 'real' nutmeg.

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The calabash nutmeg (in Nigerian ehuru, in Cameroon pèbé) is the nut of the tree that grows naturally in 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 has great similarities. 

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

Ehuru combines well with citrus notes, which makes it suitable for use with chicken dishes. Ehuru is indispensable in traditional Nigerian dishes, such as pepper soup. The ehuru nut is used as follows.

It is not a substitute for nutmeg, which is gaining popularity in Africa at the expense of the calabash nutmeg. This is a pity, because it has its own strong flavor and aroma, which best suits African cooking traditions. As in Kondres, a plantain dish, or Ewu, stewed goat, but by far the best known application is in Pepper Soup.

Use whole nuts

Method 1: Cut the nut open, exposing the crumbly inside. 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, just 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. They give the seeds a slightly sweet but woody flavour and a peppery sharpness that reminds one of 'real' nutmeg. Nevertheless, it is too easy to blindly consider both nutmeg varieties as each other's substitute. Both nuts have their own very own characteristics.

Usage

Calabash nutmeg is part of the spice mixture Mbongô tchòbi, which, in addition to this ehuru, naturally also contains mbongo (Afromomum citratus), chili pepper (Capsicum) and garlic nut (Afrostyrax lepidophyllus), 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 and stand-up pouch (no test tubes)
  
• glass jar contains 45 grams
• stand-up pouches with a capacity of up to 30 to 150 grams
• 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 closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• at least good until October 2025 (10 2025)
• This expiration date is an indication