Alan Davidson

Nutmeg Fruit

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

nutmeg fruit Myristica fragrans, normally thought of as just the receptacle from which the valuable spices nutmeg and mace are extracted, does have edible flesh, sometimes referred to as the ‘fruit-wall’.

In Sulawesi the entire fruit is peeled and split into two and fruit halves (after the mace and nutmeg are removed) are spread out, sprinkled with palm sugar, and left for three or four days in the sun. After this treatment they have become translucent, with a pale brown tinge from the sugar, and are slightly fermented. They can be eaten as they are, as a snack food or at the end of a meal.