Sometimes it is hard to separate my love of cooking and that of creating perfumes. Groot Noem Noem – Carissa macrocarpa (Also called Natal plum and Amatungulu in Zulu) symbolizes for me how these two passions can happily co-exist. You will often find on the same bush both flowers and ripe fruit.
Generally Gordans Bay, where I now live, is not any easy place for gardening. Plants have to be both wind and drought resistant. Noem Noem does grow happily here and seem to thrive in the sea breeze. To my good fortune the entire beach front in Gordans Bay is hedged with bushes of Noem Noem, so I have no lack of supply of flowers and fruits. The heavenly scent is most surprising; it is like a cross between White Frangipani (Plumeria alba) and Tuberose. Although its fragrance intensifies at night; its scent is still intense during the day. Noem-Noem also has a long flowering-season which gives one enough time to make strong extractions in one season. I have only been busy with the tincture and enfleurage for a week, but already both has absorbed the scent well enough for me to look forward to good end results.
It always surprises me how few people know that the fruits are edible. Perhaps it is because the fruits are so brightly coloured that they appear to be purely ornamental. In warm areas the fruits appear through the year. They can be eaten out of hand or made into pies, jams, jellies, and sauces. The fruit is rich in Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.
In the past it was rare that I could gather enough fruits to make jelly as my children devour the fruits long before I get a chance to make anything from it. The lovely red fruits have a sweet sour taste and are especially high in pectin and thus great for making jellies. The following recipe is from Betsie Rood’s wonderful book “Kos uit die veldkombuis.”
Noem- Neom Jelly
Pluck firm, ripe fruits. Wash the fruits and cut them into pieces including the skin. Add just enough water to cover them and cook until soft. Put aside and let it cool for a few hours. Pour through a sift. Measure the liquid.
For every 500ml of liquid add 400g of white sugar. Slowly heat until boiling and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Filter the syrup; don’t press through or else the jelly will be cloudy.
Cook the filtrate at a fairly high temperature, until it jells when a small amount is dropped on a cold saucer. Remove the scum bottle and seal while still warm.
Enjoy!
Sophia says
September 24, 2010 at 8:04 amNoem Noems are tough plants and once established can survive some cold and frost but not shade. They must have full sun. I see that you can get them in America. The fruit is ripe when it is red.
I also adore the scent of tomatoe leaves. I haven’t tried to extract it though because I thought the leaves was poisonous but then so is Genet. I suppose it is a question of how much.
AerBlueWilson says
September 24, 2010 at 6:54 amHi,
Very informative post. I will be honest and tell you that I have never even heard of this plant, but now I am intrigued, especially when you said the the aroma was a like a cross between frangipani, and tuberose, and that it’s fruit is edible, is even more enticing!
“Sometimes it is hard to separate my love of cooking and that of creating perfumes.”
Yes, yes, & Yes! I know exactly what you are feeling with this. I love food, I love to grow food if I can, and I love scent. I once saw a perfume state that it had tomato leaf absolute in it, and since I grow tomatoes every year, I know what the foliage part smells like. I am so fond of the fruit, and the leaf, that since this year, the whole plant practically gets used in cooking and in enfleurage/tincturing. (I use the stems too in my scent experiments, because they actually hold a lot of the aroma too.)
With the fruit of Noem Noem, how do you tell exactly when it is ripe. Does the color indicate it’s ripeness, or does it have a softer/harder feel to it when you press it? I wonder if I could grow one here….
AerBlueWilson says
September 24, 2010 at 5:27 pmHi,
I may look into Noem Noem this spring. They are definitely a alluring plant it seems.
With tomatoes, you do have have to use caution with the leaves, since they are in nightshade family. The leaves, stems , to some extent the fruit, contain Tomatine, a glycoalkaloid. But honestly, unless you are extremely sensitive to nightshade, or you ingest it, you really don’t have to worry to much as far as skin contact. Another thing, there is debate on if domesticated tomatoes carry even enough to irritate in large ingested quantities. The wild tomatoes might. I do know that keeping your pets away from them , wild or not, especially cats, is a good idea.
I think one of the reasons that I like your blog so much, is the fact that you find aromatics on your own and it is always something new or helpful. I have never came across Noem Noem, and especially about it’s fruit or flowers, and I had looked around for people using butterfly bush as a scent ingredient, and found nothing. Your blog is always full of pleasant info!
Lisa BTB says
September 26, 2010 at 6:36 pmSophia, this plant sounds wonderful! How lucky you are to have access to such beauties. I’m going to search for the fruits as well because they sound like something I would enjoy (sweet & sour). Thanks for another informative post.
Sophia says
September 27, 2010 at 10:57 amHi Lisa, they really are great both in taste and in scent. There are quite a few indigenous trees here with unusual sweet and sour fruits. Each place seems to have its own beauties.
Sophia
Maggie Mahboubian says
March 25, 2012 at 7:12 pmI’ve seen this plant growing along the boardwalk in Santa Monica! I remember reading somewhere that the fruits were edible. Thanks for fixing that in my brain. The flowers are also fragrant. Have you experimented with extracting them?
Maggie Mahboubian says
March 25, 2012 at 7:13 pmI’ve seen this plant growing along the boardwalk in Santa Monica! I remember reading somewhere that the fruits were edible. Thanks for fixing that in my brain. The flowers are also fragrant. Have you experimented with extracting them? . . . I just answered my own question by reading your enfleurage post.