Ever heard of Jujube? Not to worry, the name sounds familiar to me, but I certainly could not have told you what it was, let alone identify it growing on a tree until last Friday! We spent a lovely shabbat in Mitzpe Netofa in Northern Israel, and fortunately the owner gave us a little tour of all the fruit trees in the garden, and mentioned that Jews from Persia (like himself) have the custom to eat Jujube on Rosh HaShana! So of course I had to do some research, including finding out what this fruit is called in English, and wow, so very interesting! Keep on reading to learn about this interesting fruit tree whose cousin has been cultivated in China for 4,000 years!
The tree seen here in my photos is Ziziphus spina-christi, thorn jujube, an evergreen tree or plant native to northern and tropical Africa, Southern and Western Asia, the Levant (Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, part of Iran, part of Egypt) East Africa, Mesopotamia and some tropical countries. Fruit and leaves from the tree were used in preparing ancient Egyptian foods and cultural practices. While Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi ) is a tropical evergreen tree of Sudanese origin, it grows in Israel in valleys up to an elevation of 500 m. specifically around Jerusalem and especially around Lake Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, where it is widespread. (I photographed the tree in Mitzpe Netofa, a 20 minute drive from The Sea of Galilea.) The ripe fruits are edible, and the seed, contained within is a small, oblong woody pit. The fruit is opened and eaten by local fauna, including the rock hyrax, which yes I did see in Mitzpe Netofa!
The cousin to this plant, the common jujube (Z. jujuba), is native to China, where they have been cultivated for more than 4,000 years!
Regardless of which jujube we are talking about, jujube fruits are eaten fresh, dried, boiled, stewed, and baked and are used to flavor tea. When made into glacé fruits by boiling in honey and sugar syrup, they resemble Persian dates (ah yes, the Persian connection!) and are sometimes known as Chinese dates. Juice obtained from the fruits is used in making small candies called jujubes. The raw fruits are high in vitamin C.
The plant is named sheisaf in Hebrew, and in the Talmud it is called "kanari" (Bab. Talmud, Baba Bathra, 48b). It may be that it was so named because it is widespread around Lake Kinneret – the Sea of Galilee
Okay, now you know just a bit about Jujube, and maybe you'll even try to make the Persian Jewish version of it for Rosh HaShana? Ah yes, Jujube trees are common in Texas, so that just might be possible for some of you?
