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KINGDOM OF THE EGG FRUIT (LUCUMA)
Mariella Balbi

Fragments of a colourful book that pays tribute to this magnificent ancestral fruit.

THE MEANING OF THE EGG FRUIT IN THE PRE-HISPANIC WORLD.
Whereas for the Christian world the apple is a symbol of the creation of the universe, in the cosmic vision of ancient Peruvians, that role was played by the egg fruit, hereafter referred to by its local name lucuma. Not only does it have an allegoric meaning, however, as a witness of the origin of things, but – unlike the apple – it was also an important staple food, being a good source of carbohydrates and rich in minerals and vitamins. It is therefore a symbolic, nutritious and medicinal food all in one.

In pre-Hispanic times, the lucuma was associated with fertility. Excavations indicate that the soil in which they were cultivated was rich in components on which a large variety of food crops thrive. As far as archaeologist and botanical expert Elia Centurion is concerned, it is always connected with good soil and sufficient water. Besides, its sensual, supple shape can easily be associated with a nurturing breast. The fact that a milky white liquid appears when a peduncle or unripe fruit is picked, reinforces this image (...).

In geographical terms, the largest quantity of vestiges of this plant were found in coastal valleys. In her archaeological work, Centurion observed that the remnants of lucuma found in various pre-Hispanic fields indicate that this crop gradually grew more intensively from the time of the Mochica culture, about 200 years A.D.

This date marked the beginning of a mass consumption of this fruit, thanks to intensive farming with irrigation, fertilisers and innovative working instruments. This tendency decreased during the Spanish conquest. Evidence shows that the pre-Hispanic diet relied on a triad of basic foods: lucuma together with pacae (ice-cream pod) or guava, corn and legumes, defined by Luis Lumbreras as «the Corn or Mesothermal Complex». In highland areas, legumes were replaced by quinoa and kiwicha.

There are about 32 varieties of the pouteria lucuma species, many of them wild. However, the first evidence discovered dates back to 8,000 years B.C. in the area known as Callejon de Huaylas in Ancash. (...). Even though it is light, timber from lucuma trees was used for carpentry or woodwork. The posts of bases that sustained the Pachacamac sanctuary were made of lucuma wood. In addition, an impressive double-faced totem was discovered in those ruins (1938), which represented the Pachacamac god, carved with corn figures and a multitude of animals and anthropomorphous characters. This dual divinity totem was one of the most prestigious and feared oracles of the Andean area, which was consulted about the destiny of men and the future of the harvest, among other concerns.

The excavations revealed that among the different offerings discovered, corn and lucuma prevailed.

BELIEFS IN AND USES OF THE LUCUMA IN TODAY’S ANDEAN WORLD.
The lucuma grows on the coast, in the highlands and in jungle fringe areas. It forms part of daily diets, either as a staple snack for travellers or as a readily available fruit to relieve hunger. It is also considered a medicinal plant. The leaves are used to cure skin irritations like impetigo or ringworm. In jungle fringe areas, lucuma juice is used to relieve diabetes and those who have tried it have had positive results. In addition, the leaves are an effective dye for textiles.

Andean people not only have a strong utilitarian link with the lucuma, but a symbolic one as well, according to reports about its role in their supernatural beliefs. In Cajamarca, for example, people are convinced that if one points a finger at a lucuma tree, the finger will either drop off or rot. In Ayacucho, the lucuma tree is the subject of much respect and fear: it is not advisable to pass by it at night because it is populated by ghosts. It is considered to be an enchanted area inhabited by owls, therefore it is preferable to prevent magic spells by not growing a lucuma tree at home. It is worth noting that lucumas are produced and consumed in abundance in Ayacucho; the people of Huanta are considered to be «gluttons» for this fruit, which is even fed to babies.

Hence their nickname «lucuma supi». When they wish to cure a child, they make an offering to the mountains (apus), leaving various fruits, including lucuma pips. «Lucuma nahui» is an expression used in Huancavelica to describe people with swollen or bulging eyes. They believe that if a lucuma pip hits.

THE TREE AND ITS FRUITS
Fernando Cabieses

The lucumo, the adult tree that produces lucumas, grows about ten meters tall; when it is pruned early, it has a simple, cylindrical, upright trunk, virile and energetic as described in the legend; it can easily be used to support a native weaving loom. The timber from the trunk is pale, compact and longlasting, both for construction purposes or for the manufacture of utilitarian objects.

It flourishes in Peru’s inter-Andean and coastal valleys, at standard temperatures of between 20 and 22? C. It cannot withstand frost and sets down its roots in dry, well-drained soil with artificial irrigation. It is very vulnerable to flooding and does not grow well in very hot climates, where another variety has developed, referred to as lucma (pouteria macrophyla).

Although it is most frequently cultivated in coastal valleys, it has also been cultivated successfully in Andean areas up to 2,500 m.a.s.l. The regions in Peru with the highest production of lucumas are Lima, Ayacucho, La Libertad, Cajamarca and Huancavelica.

The tree grows from the seeds obtained after splitting and peeling off the hard skin that encases them (…). The tree bears fruit from year four when grafted, or year five when grown from seeds. An ideal harvest is between 200 and 300 fruits per tree. Written information is available regarding the control of plagues and diseases.

The leaves of a lucuma tree are oval or elliptical, of a shiny dark green colour. The flowers are small, tubular, greenish-yellow, hermaphrodites, with five to seven hairy sepals which, on a ripe fruit, remain stuck to the point of insertion of the petiole, rather like a flashy star.

The lucuma is a round fruit of a variable size which, among selected crops, weighs between 150 and 200 grams. It often has a prominent coneshaped apex, rounded or pointed, surrounded by a dull greyish brown colour, rather like a nipple, giving the general impression of a nubile woman.

Once the flower has been fertilised, the fruit takes nine months to ripen. Ten moons, as the legend says. Until a few days before it is fully ripe, the lucuma is a bright green colour, usually shiny due to its milky sap, a latex that exudes fertility, evocative of the time when the enthralled man-idol Kon-Iraya prepared his seed between the branches of the tree that allowed him to approach Cavillaca….. The pulp of the lucuma is moist and floury, with a delicately sweet flavour. It is the yellowish orange colour of the light stolen from a thousand twilights, the colour of a sun tired of shining. Old gold in tasty flesh. Light of the lucuma in the dying sun. So says the legend of the early centuries.

RECIPES

DUCK IN GRAVY WITH LUCUMA PUREE
(La Cofradia, Jean Paul Desmaison)

Ingredients:
560 grams of duck meat;
2 ounces of white wine;
350 ml of duck stock;
20 grams of butter;
salt.
Lucuma puree:
? kilo of lucuma pulp;
100 ml. of cream;
30 grams of butter;
salt.

Season the duck meat, place in a pan over a medium heat and brown the fatty side until it is crunchy, then brown the other side until medium rare.
Deglaze with the white wine and add the duck stock. Boil to reduce the liquid and add the butter and salt. Cut into slices and serve.
Lucuma puree: process and strain the lucuma. Place in a pan with the cream, butter and salt. Stir until the right consistency is obtained.

LUCUMA ICE-CREAM
(Tata de las Casas)

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks;
1 cup of milk;
1 tablespoon of cornstarch;
? cup of sugar;
1 tin of evaporated milk, frozen;
3 large lucumas;
2 egg whites.

Mix the egg yolks with the milk, cornstarch and sugar (set aside two tablespoons). Cook over a low heat. Remove from the stove when the mixture is thick. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally to prevent the formation of skim. Whip the evaporated milk (set some aside) and add to the previous mixture. Blend the lucumas with the evaporated milk that had been set aside and then add to the milk mixture. Beat the egg-whites and the two tablespoons of sugar until stiff, then fold into the mixture. Pour into a container and freeze.

LUCUMA PIE
(Adolfo Perret)

Ingredients:
Pastry:
2 cups of vanilla biscuit crumbs;
? cup of melted butter;
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar;
1 tablespoon of cinnamon.
Filling:
1 kilo of lucumas;
1 cup of evaporated milk;
? cup of white sugar;
2 tablespoons of powdered gelatine.
Fudge:
? cup of water;
10 tablespoons of cocoa;
1 tin of condensed milk.

Pastry:
Mix the biscuit crumbs, melted butter, powdered sugar and cinnamon and blend well until the pastry is smooth enough to line the bottom and sides of a 24 cm. pie dish.
Press down well. Bake in the oven at 175? C (350? F) for 10 minutes.
Filling:
In a liquidizer, blend the fruit pulp with the milk, sugar and a small amount of water. Add the powdered gelatine dissolved in water and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Fudge:
Heat the water and cocoa on the stove and once the cocoa is dissolved, add the condensed milk and stir until thick. Decorate the pie with this fudge.

THE SON OF THE LUCUMA

According to hearsay, in ancient times, Cuniraya Huiracocha impersonating a very poor man, would stroll around with his cloak and sleeveless shirt in shreds. Failing to recognise him, certain men would treat him like a lousy beggar. Nevertheless, this man inspired every community. By word alone he prepared the farmland and consolidated the Andes. By merely tossing a flower into a pupuma (cane field) a ditch would open from its very source. With all kinds of feats of this kind, he humiliated other local idols with his wisdom.

There was once a woman named Cahuillaca who was also an idol. Cahuillaca was still a maiden. As she was very beautiful, all idols and «huillcas» wanted to sleep with her, but she always rejected them. It so happened that this woman, who had never let herself be touched by any man, was knitting underneath a lucuma tree.

Cuniraya was so astute that he turned into a bird and perched on the top of the tree. Since there was a ripe lucuma there, he put his semen into it and then let it drop next to the woman. She happily ate the fruit and lo and behold became pregnant, even though no man had ever come anywhere near her. Nine months later, as occurs with women, Cahillca gave birth to a son, even though she was a maiden. For about a year, she raised and nursed her son on her own. She was always asking herself whose son he could be.

By the time the child was a year old and crawling, she called all the huacas and huillcas to a meeting to find out who the father was. When they heard the message, all the huacas (idols) rejoiced and dressed up in their finest garments for the meeting, each one convinced he would become Cahuillaca’s loved one. The meeting took place in Anchicocha. When they arrived at the woman’s residence, they all sat down as she addressed them: «Look at him! Gentlemen, recognize this child! Which one of you is the father? She asked each one if it was him. None of them admitted to being the father.

Cuniraya Huiracocha sat on one side, as very poor people tend to do. Looking down on him, Cahuillaca did not ask him, since she thought it was impossible that her child could have been engendered by that poor man, when there were so many handsome men present. As no-one admitted to being the child’s father, she told the child that he himself should recognise his father. Before that, she explained that the child would climb onto his father’s lap if he was present. So the child crawled from one end of the meeting room to the other without climbing onto anyone, until he reached the place where his father sat. He happily climbed onto his lap without hesitation.

When his mother saw this, she cried out furiously «Oh woe is me! How could I have given birth to the son of such a miserable man?» With these words, she picked up her son and carried him towards the sea. Then Cuniraya Huiracocha said «She will soon love me!!» and, dressed in a golden outfit, be began to follow her. Seeing him, all the local huacas stood in awe. «Sister Cahuillaca», he called out, «?look over here! I am very handsome now»he lit up the earth as he got to his feet.Cahuillaca refused to turn around to look at him. The thought of having given birth to the son of such an awful mangy man prompted her to vanish forever. So she walked into the sea and ended up on the site off the shore of Pachacamac where two stones that resemble human beings still stand. As soon as she arrived there, she turned into stone.

Gerald Taylor. Rites and Traditions of Huarochiri. IFEA, BCR, Ricardo Palma University, Lima, 1999, 502 pages. See also: Gods and men of Huarochiri. Quechua narration quoted by Francisco de Avila. Introduction and Spanish translation by Jose Maria Arguedas. IEP, 1966.