One. Its acidity. Someday, we might be able to find the best way to make more than scattered cheese curds with the flesh and its liquid. The experiment below involved Agbalumo flesh in a jar, filled with milk and left refrigerated for a couple of days.
Two, the liquid extracted from macerating Agbalumo flesh in sugar tastes like lemonade but with the peculiar Agbalumo flavor. And like lemons and limes, it’s juices sting the cuts and scratches on the fingers of a Kitchen Butterfly.
Three. Much pectin. The first time I tried to make an Agbalumo sugar syrup I ended up with soft jam. There wasn’t any citrus in the mix or any other pectin-rich fruits.
Interestingly, heat does something to this fruit, especially when combined with sugar. I think it destroys the peculiar sour taste, so this ‘jam’ had the colour but not the distinct flavour of Agbalumo.
What else is there to uncover, I wonder?
