Bush Butter

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

bush butter (tree), Dacryodes edulis, which grows in tropical Africa and is occasionally cultivated, is also known as African or native pear, safu, and eben. Facciola (1990) observes that the purple plum-sized fruit

is eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or with curries. When placed in hot water it softens and swells, and all the flesh then slides easily off the seed. It is usually salted and tastes like a warmed ripe avocado, with a slight sour flavour. Has a 7 per cent protein content, which is high for a fruit.