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Pommerac, Pommerac, CLICK CLICK CLICK

click-logo.jpgIt’s been a while since I’ve submitted a photo to Jai and Bee for their monthly food photography event CLICK, but as usual for the few times I have, it’s just on the deadline.

Today.

The theme for the month of April (which ends today, I know) is Au Naturel! And, my entry…the lovely POMMERAC, ready-to-eat, unprocessed and untreated. Delicious. And pretty, with the redness and the whiteness next to each other. And the furry centre.

Pommerac

Pommerac is the French patois name in T&T. Also called Jamoon in Trinidad. Known as Malay Apples. These are much more fibrous in texture than an apple, not crunchy, but with high water content. Different taste, however, that I haven’t figured out how to describe! Latin name: Syzygium malaccense.

In Jamaica they call it an otaheite apple (ignore what other people call the otaheite apple). From a comment on my Flickr I was advised that they call it Ponmdo in creole Martinique, Pomme d’eau in French. In Guadeloupe it’s called Pomme Malaka. As it’s not really sweet they say also “acre” and in creole that word is “rak“. That becomes Ponmrak or Pommerac if you turn it Frenchy (according to jendayee).

UPDATE (6 May 2008): From a comment left by Trinikreyol on my Flickr:

Ok i am a trini and i speak creole also known as patois, i can give you an explanation of the word pommerac. In trinidad unlike martinique and guadeloupe our creole has been strongly influenced by spanish. The word pommerac comes from a combination of the words pomme which is french for apple and the spanish word maracas which is what some trinis call shack-shack. The fruit does look like the instrument as well as an apple! Hence the name!

Some other shots.

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This entry was written by Chennette and posted on April 30, 2008 at 5:25 pm and filed under Click, Trinidad and Tobago, fruits, photos. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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37 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. never heard of this fruit. it does look delicious.

    1. bee on April 30th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

  2. jamoon?

    2. Lilandra on April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

  3. doh tell me you never hear that word before…ask your parents

    3. Chennette on April 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

  4. they have a skewed notion of what i should know

    4. Lilandra on April 30th, 2008 at 11:19 pm

  5. The Jamoon or Pommerac is from us ….. it is what dad brought from Trincity ….. lovely refreshing taste … no need for water after eating those…..

    5. trinimom on May 1st, 2008 at 11:12 pm

  6. That pommerac looks great - haven’t had one in years! My grandma used to have a giant pommerac tree in her yard, and I’d eat lots and lots with salt!

    6. Karen on May 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

  7. Oooh, pretty. I’ve never seen one of these before.

    7. ewe_are_here on May 4th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

  8. I’ve never heard the name jamoon either. Love pomeracs. Don’t see them around much any more, though.

    8. Liane Spicer on May 4th, 2008 at 10:45 pm

  9. I hadn’t had one in a really long time either, so when Dad brough 2 somewhat small and slightly misshapen specimens (last of the crop?), I washed them, ate the uglier and more bruised, and then photographed this one. In one of the photos you can make out a small bruise, but I tried to avoid it. Then I ate it. THEN I went upstairs and may have mentioned Dad brought home some pommeracs. Which I’d eaten. I was visiting, after all :-)

    9. Chennette on May 5th, 2008 at 12:15 am

  10. For as many times as I’ve visited Trinidad, and as much as I’ve heard about the pommerac, no one has ever offered me one. I suppose they’re too good to waste on the son in law.

    10. Mark on May 6th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  11. It was thinking about pomme c-tay (however you spell it; i know it is incorrect) until I say the picture. Losing touch with culture; I guess that what happens when you haven’t been home in a while. Aye, jamoon from what I remember is sorta like a purple berry. The only Jamoon tree in Trinidad that i am aware of used to be at that well known address of no. 1 Mucurapo road, until it was cut down. Jamoon in no way looks like pommerac. Way yuh geh dah one from girl?

    11. Umar on May 7th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

  12. Mark, it may be a seasonal thing :-) or hoarding… I guess you can’t dismiss that idea. After all, if you’ve never tasted it, you’ll never start craving it and cutting into the supplies.

    Umar, I have noticed that people have had different experiences even on our small island. I didn’t even know what shadow beni was until Form Three. I collected bandhania and never knew there was another word. I suppose because I never went anywhere to buy it…
    My mother posted a comment on Flickr that explained about the “real” jamoon, but she confirms that we also know pommerac as Big Jamoon.
    Mom: “Ok some history….Jamoon also is the name for a similar type fruit which also grows in clusters, It is deep red almost crimson and the fruit when ripe is so sweet and leaves a reddish purply stain on anything in its part. The flowers are similar to the Pommerac which is also called big Jamoon. I vivdly remember this tree in the village , well there were more than one and when we would pass by the tree we were sure to get one and rub it on our lips for lipstick. But oh so sweet and finger stains on the nails as well. There is a tree as you drive up the ramp near the Preysal Exit . Pommerac flowers are beautiful and a great sight…..
    Of course jamoon is associated with the sweet we make from flour and condensed milk etc … gulab jamoon to be exact and this purple fruit was also called gulab jamoon by some…. if I remember correctly some odd 50 years ago hehehehe.”

    12. Chennette on May 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

  13. And pommecythere :-) pronounced as you wrote it of course!

    I have been forced to do a lot of research for this picture, both in relation to Flickr comments and this post :-D Who knew blogging was such an educational exercise. More evidence for the linkage between Pommerac and Jamoon lies in the latin names:
    Pommerac -Syzygium malaccense
    Jamoon - Syzygium cumini

    See? Same family, or uhm, whatever you call that first term :-D

    13. Chennette on May 7th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

  14. http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/fruits/roseappl.htm
    Check this site

    14. trinimom on May 7th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

  15. Your umm know exactly know d tree ah talking bout. As yuh talk bout gulab jamoon, isn’t that d fat ‘kuma’ as opposed to d skinny ones. And what yuh does call that yellowish sweet dah does look like cockset again? Ah does always get mix up between d two.

    Chennette: I KNOW I posted this before, but here goes (why do my own comments get spammed??) - for anyone who is confused, a “cockset” is a mosquito coil, a green felty spiral you light to smoke away the flying insects.

    16. Umar on May 8th, 2008 at 11:50 am

  16. jelabi (the cockset sweet)

    17. Lilandra on May 8th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

  17. Ahh. . pommerac chow. . .even with “Chiney pommerac” (the smaller lighter red version).. . Hard to find. I did see a tree laden with it as we drove south to some beach I’ve forgotten the name to. The last time I had pommerac was again driving to some remote beach. Two little boys were selling their fruit in little piles of 4 by the road. Washed it with some drinking water we had and it was GOOD!

    18. Indira on May 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

  18. We call it cashew :)

    19. Cynthia on May 10th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

  19. AHA! Like the Grenadians I hear. It’s always good to know that it is not just Trinis (or me) who confused ;-)
    One wonders what you call cashew? Now I know what to tell my brother in law when I was trying to find out what Guyanese called this…I didn’t have the picture to show him.

    20. Chennette on May 10th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

  20. Indra …………“Chiney pommerac” (the smaller lighter red version).. ….

    Is this not the fruit that is called Primrose… smaller than the Pommerac , similar shape and lighter coloured but with more sweetness but almost same amount of water crunch and single seed on the inside……

    21. trinimom on May 10th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

  21. I am not too crazy about pommerac but it’s not on my negative list either.

    I remember the name jammoon from my grandmother and that was all she ever called pommerac. There is a nice pommerac tree in UWI and every year I forget to take a picture when it has its red flowers.

    Very nice picture and shows of the pommerac.

    22. aka_lol on May 12th, 2008 at 7:18 am

  22. That should have read “nice pictures and shadows of the pommerac” ;)

    23. aka_lol on May 12th, 2008 at 7:19 am

  23. Aka Thanks for joining the fray. Between my Flickr comments and this post, I have come to the conclusion that this has to be the most controversial fruit, who would have thought? :-D
    But I am so very glad that someone else knows it as jamoon. I was beginning to think that my village was in some weird manifestation of the time-space continuum in Trinidad.

    24. Chennette on May 12th, 2008 at 10:31 am

  24. It was good to hear the name jamoon again. A search on Google for jamoon turned up the Gulab type;)

    25. aka_lol on May 12th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

  25. Trinimom: I have not heard the term “primrose”. Doesn’t mean it isn’t called that by some though. :>
    My Mama calls it “Jamoon”, and I wonder about the other name “Cashew”. After all, the cashew fruit (from which the nut grows), does look like a pommerac, sometimes red, sometimes yellow/orange. However, “it makes yuh mout’ all dry up when yuh try to eat it!”

    26. Indira on May 15th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

  26. Beautiful picture and very interesting post :)
    I love to try new food…. especially fruits, I will be looking for this one next time I go to the market.

    Have a wonderful day, Margot

    27. Coffee and Vanilla on May 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am

  27. Great shot, all the details. The comments about hardly seeing pommerac around reflects the comments I had on one of my posts about the ridiculous state and attitude to agriculture in too many Caribbean islands. If you go to Florida you’ll see l(non-immigrant) Americans with pommerac trees in their yards.
    What I know as Jamoon is Jammun or Jamblang (Syzygium cumini) see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambul a fruit that grows in clusters and looks like mini pommeracs. Aain, these are now easier to see and buy in Florida than the Caribbean!

    28. Nicole on May 19th, 2008 at 4:57 am

  28. You do so open up my culinary avenues

    29. CrankyPutz on May 21st, 2008 at 4:20 pm

  29. finally i’ve updated my rss reader and your link in my blogroll :) i’m so bad!!!

    30. The TriniGourmet on May 21st, 2008 at 4:55 pm

  30. TG Thanks for catching up :-D I even had to APPROVE your comment, you’ve been away so long. Hope the Taste works out!!

    31. Chennette on May 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am

  31. We had a humongous tree in my yard growing up. My mom would grind the pulp up and make us a milk based drink or a refreshing syrupy one that was like and iced tea. I think she would add cloves to it. It was delicious. She would even freeze the flesh…and take it down and defrost it t o make a drink for us. I even remember it is ice cream. Its one of the fruits I really miss living here in the US>

    32. Clivia on May 31st, 2008 at 9:30 pm

  32. Hi Clivia! Wow. Your Mom must have been great with those drinks and ice creams. Hmmm…sound good. I haven’t had pommerac as anything but pommerac, or maybe chow? and Mom says they used it for chutneys.

    33. Chennette on May 31st, 2008 at 11:39 pm

  33. I know it as pommerac as well as jamoon. My grandmother used to buy “jamoon” 4 us when she went to the market until we planted our own tree. My uncle still calls it jamoon up till today. The pommerac tree is beautiful when in bloom and when the flowers fall the ground looks like a velvety pinkish red carpet beneath the tree.
    There are some varieties that are sweeter than others. We have found that the darkest coloured ones are the sweetest.
    Also, did you know that the green fruit can be made in an anchar (pickled) type curry dish? It’s absolutely delicious!!

    34. Indian Dancer on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:22 am

  34. yay, someone else with my memories of the name :-D it must be a geographical thing….I’m in Central, whereabouts are the other pommerac-jamoon-callers in T&T?

    35. Chennette on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 am

  35. I’m also from Central Trinidad and alot of the other Central people do call it the “jamoon” ;)

    36. Indian Dancer on July 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm

  36. what do they call pommerac in barbados

    38. MeMe on January 16th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

  37. hmm…not sure…no Bajans commented!
    Jamaica is otaheite apple and Grenada and Guyana call it cashew…one of those maybe?

    39. Chennette on January 16th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

2 Trackbacks

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  2. By   Caribbean Fruits — Lifespan of a Chennette on August 14, 2008 at 9:43 pm

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