Seasonal Brew · Marula Fruit
Omagongo (Marula Wine)
Photo: Justina Panduleni / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
UNESCO recognized Namibia's Omagongo Festival as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015, and tradition holds that during marula season no weapons may be carried and even the traditional courts pause their business.
Ripe marula fruit is peeled and mashed by hand, its juice strained into clay pots and left to ferment for two to three days into a tart, mildly alcoholic wine, traditionally poured for guests from a calabash.
Why it's made this way: Every March to May, the eight Aawambo communities of northern Namibia gather for the Marula Fruit Festival to share the season's first omagongo — a ritual of unity that has bound families and villages together for generations.
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