Harbor Area Farmers Markets: Jujubes

HAFM Reports:
Seasonal Jubilation about
J U J U B E S !

~ jujube = JOO-joob ~
In much of Asia and Middle East, jujubes are known as "the food of harmony".
There is still some speculation about areas of origin (Syria or China), but there is unanimity among all cultures that know this fruit: love and reverence. It's also commonly referred to as the Asian or Chinese or red date. China alone grows more than 400 varieties!

Jujube tree in Israel.

Jujubes are known by many names in many places:

Albanian: xinxife;
Arabic: nabq, dum, sidr, tsal, sadr, beri, bor, nabbak el fil;
Chinese (common usage): da zao, hong zao, zao shu;
Egyptian: nabk;
Farsi: senjed;
Greek: zhizhifon;
Hebrew: sheisaf, shizaf, kanari;
Hindi: baer, ber;
Indonesian: bidara;
Italian: giuggiolo, giuggiola;
Korean: dae-chu;
Portuguese: jujuba, maceira-brava;
Russian: yuyuba;
Spanish: azufaifa, azufaifo, yuyubo, yuyuba;
Thai: put-sa;
Turkish: medara;
Vietnamese: tao, tao nhuc.

Did you know that . . .

. . . an old Muslim legend tells about a Christ's Thorn Jujube that grows in Paradise and has leaves as many as there are human beings? Each leaf bears the names of a particular person and his or her parents. Every year, one day in the middle of the month of Ramadan, just after sunset, the tree is shaken. The names on the leaves that fall are of those who face death in the coming year. The process of the leaves' decay intimates the timing of their death; some leaves dry up and fall immediately while others wither slowly, signifying the time the person has left.

. . . the jujube is classed as a drupe, like the date and fig?

. . . you can substitute dried jujubes for dates or raisins in all recipes, and that dried jujubes are a wonderful snack that can be prepared without the use of any preservative (as is so commonly needed for other dried fruits)?

. . . the Chinese believe that eating the fruit from the jujube tree would improve a person’s stamina and strength, as well as an improvement in the function of the liver and the immune system, and that consumption of the jujube would mildly tranquilize a person, act to fight allergies, and cause a person to gain weight?

. . . in combination with Ginseng, Jujube nourishes the spirit, acting to soothe irritability and mild emotional instability?

. . . nutritionists have found that the fruit of the jujube tree contains beneficial concentrations of Vitamins A, B2, and C? The jujube also contains minerals necessary for health, such as phosphorus, calcium, and iron. Arab nutritionists use the leaves of the jujube tree to kill worms and other parasites that attack the intestinal tract and cause diarrhea.

Jujubes ripening on tree.

Jujube branch with spines.
Most varieties have significant thorns.

Drooping jujube-laden branch.
Fruit-laden branches droop, requiring supports.

Newly ripe.

Well-ripened jujubes.
Thoroughly ripened.

Dried jujubes.
Dried.

Jujube Paste:
Preparation. - JUJUBE PASTE. Massa de jujubis. With sufficient water extract jujube-berries, 5 parts, to obtain of the infusion, 35 parts; add sugar, 20 parts; acacia, 30 parts. Evaporate, add orange-flower water, 2 parts; boil slowly for 12 hours, and run into molds. This is in accordance with the French Codex. Jujube paste (in the United States), seldom contains jujube.
Action and Medical Uses. - Jujube decoction is employed in some countries as a demulcent pectoral, and like other acidulous and sweet fruits, jujube enters into the composition of tisanes for the relief of throat and broncho-pulmonic irritations. Jujube paste is demulcent, but seldom met with in this country.
(Source:
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/zizyphus.html.)

Jujube Rob:
One ratl of pure Jurjani jujube, fifteen dirhams of dry coriander, one hundred dirhams of peeled lentils, and a bunch of endive roots are all soaked in vinegar for three days and then boiled once vigorously and filtered. Oxymel is made from it. Every day ten dirhams of it is soaked in a glass containing a dilution of barberry whose preparation is as follows:
One ratl of Jurjani jujube without seeds, one ratl of fresh barberry without seeds, one ratl of cuscuta, one handful of endive seed, and one handful of genuine rhubarb, altogether three dirhams, are gathered in a vessel. On it is poured enough water to cover it and to exceed it by two fingers in width. It is put in the summer sun for three days or in the winter for four days. Allah is omniscient.
Commentary: A "rob" is a syrup, related to oxymels in many ways. In a previous section of the manuscript, al-Samarqandi indicates that the fruit juices of a rob preparation may be used in place of the water indicated for the preparation of a sakanjubin, in fact.
(Source: http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/Sakanjubin.html.)

Jujubes are available
at four of our
Harbor Area Farmers Markets
mid-September - November
(the exception being our Huntington Park Market)
from the following producers:

Gonzaga - [pictured at right]
(LB Uptown, Cerritos, LB Southeast);

Beyond Bok Choy
(LB Uptown, LB Downtown, Cerritos);

Oriental Farms
(LB Uptown, Cerritos);

K & K Ranch
(Cerritos);

Avitua/Walker
(LB Downtown).

***Two Basic Recipes:***
*Jujube (Asian Date) Nut Bread.* Pour 1-1/2 cups boiling water over 1 pound pitted Jujube (Asian dates). Cover and let soften. Other ingredients: 1 cup white sugar, 3 cups white flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 cup chopped pecans nuts, 1 beaten egg, 1 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. PREPARATION: Sift the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Mix sugar, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture, the nuts and then the jujube water mixture. Pour into two 4x9-inch well-greased bread pans and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. It will be lightly browned, and the bread will pull away from the pan slightly. Let cool before slicing. Makes two loaves.	*Jujube Cake.* Ingredients: 1/2 pound dried jujubes, 2 tablespoons Ginseng powder, 1/2 pound glutinous rice flour. PREPARATION: Knead the jujube with the glutinous rice flour, add Ginseng. Make dough into any form of large biscuit, place in biscuit molds. Steam cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Cakes should be very soft but keep their shape.