The makopa
These are the most stunning dark blood red makopa fruit I have ever seen, a gift from organic farming guru, Gil Carandang. Folks in Manila have a tendency to describe all fruits bearing a similar resemblance in shades ranging from pale green to light pink, dark pink and deep burgundy as makopa. Technically, that is incorrect. They are closely related fruit, but scientifically distinct. And even luminaries in local and international food writing such as Doreen Fernandez and Desmond Tate have been confused by the distinctions. For many Visayans, there is a natural distinction between tambis and makopa, but for many folks in Luzon, those distinctions are often blurred.
Makopa or syzygium malacenssis in the photos above are also known as Malay apples, and are indigenous to the Malay peninsula. They (and other closely related species syzygium aqueum and syzygium samarangense) were brought by the Portuguese to India and were later transported to the Caribbean where they thrive to this day. In the Philippines, they are a common backyard fruit, bursting with blooms in March or April and quickly bearing an incredible bounty of fruit from April through June. Once considered so common and plentiful, the bulk of the fruit probably ended up as a snack for fruit bats or birds or fell uneaten to ground below. Only recently have these been sold in groceries and markets, a testament to the rapid urbanization and lack of neighborhood fruit trees in the city.
As a child, I use to climb the tambis (the light-pink cousin, and Visayan name) tree in my grandmother’s yard in Cebu and pick the glossiest, firmest and least ant-infested fruit. Wash (and chill slightly if you can wait) and eat with a big handful of rock salt. Yum. The crisp, juicy and slightly sweet flesh with the crunch of salt is what summer fruit memories are made of. Occasionally, you get a fruit with a “cottony” consistency with a funky mouthfeel. The discovery of a worm or a brotherhood of ants in the airy internal cavity resulted in a quick toss to the bushes and reaching for another fruit to munch on. I never ate them any other way, though some quick research suggests they are now added to salads or even made into chutneys in the Caribbean!
Every time I run across one of these summer backyard fruits these days, I make it a point to harvest/purchase some and bring them home, so that our teenage daughter has a chance to taste and experience them, particularly since she is more inclined to spend time on a computer than climbing a fruit tree in season. I strongly encourage all of you to do the same – be proud of our native fruits, savor them at the peak of their season, and build new food memories that will live on for generations to come.
