Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
DURING this time of the year Gogo Sipho Masuku (56) from Nsimbi Village in Gwanda brews one of her family’s favourite beverages, umkumbi brew.
The traditional brew, made from marula fruits, is almost as old as time. The art of making the traditional brew has been passed on from one generation to the next. Masuku said her grandmother taught her how to make the beverage and she has imparted the knowledge to her children.
Umkumbi brew is common in areas that have marula trees.
The beverage is consumed this time of the year and especially during agriculture-based work parties, commonly known as amalima.
Community members get to enjoy umkumbi from January to April when marula fruits will be in season. Some community members make the brew and sell it to fellow villagers. Others make the brew and serve it to community members during gatherings. Families also sip on the brew during their time of relaxing or during get-togethers.
The beverage is said to cleanse people’s stomachs.
Masuku makes the brew for her family to drink and sells some of it for R120 a bucket.
“I collect marula fruits that would have fallen from trees while the skin is green. I keep them in a sack for about a week until the skin is yellow. When making the brew I use a spoon to peel the skin off the marula fruits and I put the pulp in a bucket together with the juice that comes out after peeling off the skin.
“I pound the pulp in order to extract more juice. After pounding I add water in order to extract all the juices from the pulps and remain with the seeds. I remove the seeds and remain with the mixture which I add to the juice that I would have extracted while peeling the fruits,” she said.
Masuku said she allows the mixture to settle. She said a floating mass accumulates on the top while the umkumbi brew settles at the bottom. Masuku then drains the brew which is then served. She dries the seeds which she cracks to get marula nuts.
A 20-litre bucket of marula fruit can produce 10 litres of umkumbi. Umkumbi brew can also be given to children within two days of preparation. Within the first two days the brew will be sweet but after fermenting it tastes sour. On the third day the brew would have fermented, giving it the killer punch that quenches the thirst of men.
Her husband, Fiso Sibanda (65) said they sometimes share the brew with community members who gather at their homestead and assist them in their fields.
Sibanda said umkumbi brew is part of their culture. He said it is a healthy beverage which is a good substitute for the other brews which they drink during the course of the year.
“During the course of the year we drink other beverages such as bataimunhu, amasese and njengu but the challenge is that all these beverages require us to fork out money. Umkumbi is ideal because it’s free. It’s a natural beverage made from a fruit that we were given by God. I enjoy relaxing at home in the afternoon while sipping at umkumbi together with my peers or nephews,” he said.
Sibanda said back in the day umkumbi was mainly a social and not economic brew. Some community members are now making money out of it.
“While marula fruits can be available in a certain community, not all homesteads in that area will be producing umkumbi. People know which homesteads to go to when they want the traditional beverage. In the past umkumbi was a happy beverage used to motivate people during amalima but now people are selling it. It is also medicinal,” he said.– @DubeMatutu
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