We have quite a few African fan palm trees (Borassus aethiopum) in our village. The Dinka name for this tree is "tuk" (rhymes with "kook").
This kind of palm doesn't produce well-known fruit like coconuts or dates, but it does produce a fruit that is greatly appreciated by folks here, especially children.
The tuk fruit is ripe this time of year and kids at Cush Christian School often bring it to eat before school or at recess.
The fruit is very fibrous and has a large pit in the middle. It eaten by chewing and sucking on the fibres until all the flavour is out of them, then spitting them out.
I haven't tried tuk, partly because it has a strong odour that I find quite unpleasant. The students are not supposed to bring a tuk into the classroom because of this.
If a child has snuck one in and hidden it in his or her desk, the odour gives it away. As soon as I smell it, I'm on the hunt to find it and have it taken out ASAP!
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