Ikinyomoro

I’m often asked what’s the food like, and the answer is:  Except for the lack of fast food in my town, it’s not much different from European food.  That’s because Rwanda’s food culture was heavily influenced by Belgium and France, and so we eat potatoes, in addition to two to three other starches (plantain, beans, cassava or rice), with every meal.  However, one thing that I have especially enjoyed eating in Rwanda that I’ve never seen anywhere before is ikinyomoro (pronounced ee-cheen-yo-moro), which is known in English as tree tomato.

But it’s nothing like the tomato we know and which are also abundant in Rwanda.  It doesn’t look or taste at all like a tomato.  Rather, tree tomatoes are egg-shaped and about the size of a large egg.

And, they grow on trees that produce the fruits year after year.  Like the tomato we know, tree tomatoes are said to be a member of the nightshade family.   Who knows where they originated?  Some say South America – Peru, Chile or Ecuador.  Others say Africa, perhaps South Africa.  Maybe even Rwanda, as they are prolific here.  Tree tomatoes require a subtropical climate with plenty of rain.  They are popular in India, Malaysia, the Philippines and New Zealand, among other places.  The New Zealand Tree Tomato Promotion Council gave tree tomatoes the new moniker of “tamarillo” to distinguish them from what most of us think of as tomatoes and to increase their exotic appeal.  No one calls them tamarillo in Rwanda, just ibinyomoro (the plural form) in Ikinyarwanda or tree tomatoes.

Regardless of their origin or name, they are a cool fruit.  Rwandans eat them for dessert or as a snack.  They cut them in half and then scoop out the jelly-like, fleshy inside with a spoon and eat it seeds and all.  One can also eat it sans spoon, simply by sucking out the gelatinous inside.  At my school, tree tomatoes are always served with passion fruit, which are eaten the same way.  They are both beautiful colors.  The tree tomatoes with their vivid colors are on the left.  The sweeter passion fruit are on the right.

Today, as I’m suffering from yet another cold (grippe, as colds are called here), I had a craving for a super dose of vitamin C, so I walked to one of my favorite restaurants and ordered a glass of delicious ikinyomoro (tree tomato) juice, which is high in vitamin C.  It was just what the doctor would have ordered.