Truffle your !nabba

Surely, that is the quintessential heading as per WordPress standards – not too long, get your reader’s attention in the first three (and the last three) words, with a sputtering of unusual words.

Let me introduce you (unless you are one of the privileged few who knows through personal experience) to !nabbas.

At the same time, I will also give a grammar lesson. In fact, let me get that out of the way, because strictly speaking, I am not actually qualified. The ! is not in the wrong place. That is a lesson I can only give in person, because how else would you write the click sound that brings into being the smells and memories of a Kalahari red sand treasure.

For truly the !nabba is a treasure.

It has a very short gathering season, and then, only in the specific combination of enough (not too much) rain at the right (not to early, not too late) time, and temperature (no longer peak summer heat, but also not yet winter).

I guess the season this year lasted 3 weeks, given that our team are no longer proffering these treats for a spare bit of cash. And the cash they work hard for. !nabbas cannot be cultivated. You take a guess where you may find (sorry, I am not going to divulge the secret whether it is on the north facing, or south facing slope) the treasure half buried near the roots of yep, you guessed it, Senegalia mellifera. Otherwise known as “an African thorn tree”.

swarthaak – Wiktionary

This tree looks innocuous in this picture, but if you look carefully, you will see that the (albeit) small thorns, go in opposite directions, and are curved as an extra special design.

What this means, if you get hooked, you can’t move. Move backward, the other thorn gets you, move forward again, thorn number one gets a better grip. Move sideways, thorn number two gets a real twist in … clothing, hair, flesh & bone. It is a hazardous exercise, this truffle hunting exercise.

And yes, looks are deceiving. Here you can see what looks like lumps of clumps. But a good scrub under running water, followed by a patient peeling and second wash, reveals the earthy goodness, that is somewhere between a mushroom, and a potato. That is my most independent description.

Not that I am plugging any store, but you can find your recycle-able brushes at Zero Waste Store in Windhoek. Zero-Waste (zerowastestore.com.na)

These are too hard to come by, so we don’t often go into magnifique concoctions of !nabba soup or such. I can imagine that a “cock-a-leekie” soup would be a scrumptious treat, bringing out the flavour and the texture of the cherished “mother of earth pearl”. I have had it grated fresh over pasta, which was very good.

We simply fry it in butter – ala Julia Child – . Salt & pepper, and of course, some of my dried Japanese Mustard herb.

You can be a bit more artery conscious, and use less butter, but keep the lid on to effectively steam this gem.

I have to refer you to a friend, if you do not believe that simple, brings out the best of this nugget of goodness of the earth taste.

https://www.kalahariauob.com/post/kalahari-gold-truffles-nabbas

In conclusion, Julia also said:

“Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it’s done right. Even a pancake.”

If you are struggling with a lack-lustre appetite, you must see this movie. I can guarantee your next baked beans on toast will be a masterpiece.

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Onda oku tala later

Oshi li wete ni nale.

(more or less: (given my propensity to pretend I’m a linguistic expert) “see you later”)