Tumat Tla'o

Tumat Tla'o is a rapid growing, tropical tree that produces abundant harvests of sweet fruit. The fruit contains thousands of tiny seeds centred in the middle. These seeds are ground into a powder known as Cunca. The fruit is very sweet, custardy and not very sour. It can be scooped when it is at its most mature stage, and when not it is much crisper and more sour and is often used in different kinds of recipes. It is known as Tumat.

Tumat Tla'o, Majota attui is a fast growing (once established), mid-sized understory tree from the tropical rainforest region. The plant produces abundant sweet fruit. The fruit's center has one or two huge pits in the center. The very sweet flesh becomes more fibrous as it goes towards the core. It has a custard-like texture and is not very sour. When fully ripe, it is easy to scoop up using a spoon. It is very easy to turn into juice. The immature stage is crisp and must be cut with a knife, and is sour and used in more savoury recipes. The fruit is known as Tumat when mature and Àyuk when immature. An Antakim can be used on mature fruit to produce a thick, somewhat pulpy, thick juice known as Otuà Tumat.

The fruit looks like an oblong, green-yellow coconut which is smaller in size than a coconut, and firm or soft. The rind is relatively thick, and does not easily separate from the fruit so must be cleaved or peeled off of young fruit. It separates very easily from mature fruits.

Majota akkimlii is a taller tree native to slightly less wet forests and it produces less fruit of equal quality, and is also known as Tumat Tla'o. It has around 4-6 seeds per fruit, and each fruit is somewhat larger, sweet and more fibrous. It is soft, and tastes the same as m. attui when young but slightly larger. Skin is very similar to the other species, but ranges in colour and can be red, orange, yellow or green when fruit is mature.

The rind of the fruit is brewed into a tea. Mature rind is slightly subdued, with a distinct, bright and warming taste. When immature, the taste is more sour and lemon-y. This is used as an herb in all sorts of situations, as well as a tea. It is known as Samti Tumat.

The pits of the fruits are known as Cunca. They are often cooked using the Xumnac method, and cracked open. The pits are very high protein and high oil. Often, Cunca is crushed or cut up really small and added into soups, a topping for Naci, or on other dishes. The pits always split in half or are cut up, but are relatively small and are eaten as a snack or as a topping chopped up. The seeds do not make up most of the energy from the fruits, but are important.