Bay Nui specialty

It seems that wild trees are no longer resilient to the erratic weather in recent years. As the rainy season comes, snack lovers and forest fruit hunters visit the Bay Nui area one after another, but they miss the appointment several times before meeting the right time for the plums to ripen. Locals say that this year, plums bear fruit later and unevenly. Some trees have been almost harvested, while others have only produced tiny green fruits. A few trees are stunted, with damaged or misshapen fruits... and must be fenced with bamboo to prevent children from climbing and picking them. In return, plums are sold at a fairly high price this season, more than 100,000 VND/kg, but supply cannot meet demand.

Many people wonder, why is this fruit that used to be eaten for fun, and some trees were not picked until they fell black at the base, so expensive now? Actually, there are starfruit trees all over the plains, they grow naturally, no one plants or takes care of them, when the season comes they give black fruit in abundance. The starfruit is big and round, when ripe it is dark purple, the skin is shiny and plump, looking very attractive, mainly for fun. Starfruit in the mountains is the same, even the fruit is smaller, the sweetness depends on the season, the weather... but many people have to buy "mountain starfruit" to enjoy it. The familiar explanation is that eating wild fruit feels more special, more interesting.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nghe (Cho Moi district) often invites his friends to the mountains to walk around, take pictures, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and relax after stressful working days. According to his feelings, the mountain plum fruit has a fragrant, sweet smell, perhaps not because of the reputation of "natural fruit", but the Khmer ethnic minority people choose very carefully when selling. They only keep the best fruits to display on the stall, and remove any fruit that is not ripe enough. The meticulousness and honesty in the way of doing business makes buyers very fond of it. Supporting this snack is also a way to help people have extra income in a few short months.

On the section of Provincial Road 948 through Nui To Commune (Tri Ton District), there are dozens of roadside stalls selling wild fruits and vegetables. The striking purple color of the star apple always attracts the attention of tourists the fastest. Ms. Neang Sang displays two trays full of large star apples, with a few baskets behind her waiting for customers to pick them up. “This season, the price of star apples has dropped to 50,000 VND/kg. Every day, I retail about 20kg of star apples to passersby, not to mention the number of star apples sold wholesale to traders at prices depending on the time. With many buyers, my family is happy to have more income,” Ms. Sang shared.

Tri Ton district has thousands of myrtle trees, concentrated in Nui To commune and Co To town. From 7 years old, myrtle trees begin to yield fruit, mature trees can yield an average of 50kg of fruit per season. This gift given to the people of the mountainous region every year is very popular with many customers. Grasping this need, people gather to sell along the roadside, whenever someone curiously stops to look, they immediately invite them to try it with the introduction "That's mountain myrtle, it's home myrtle, very sweet and delicious!". Some people carry myrtle on their bicycles around the commune, tourist attractions, markets, residential areas... to sell to more customers.

The money people earn from this “heavenly gift” is just the tip of the iceberg, because the work of climbing to pick starfruit is very hard and dangerous. Young people go to work to earn money, children go to school, only the elderly go to pick starfruit, carry starfruit to sell… Starfruit prices fluctuate strongly at the beginning and end of the season, partly because the work of picking and collecting enough quantity is quite elaborate. Mrs. Neang Khol said: “Customers are used to it, so when the season comes, people try to pick a lot, have to wake up early or pick in the late afternoon to have starfruit to sell the next day. If the tree is too tall, they have to put up a ladder and climb to the upper branches. The time spent sitting and choosing ripe, delicious fruit is also quite long…”.

The myrtle tree has been associated with the working life of the Khmer ethnic minority for a long time. The trees grow scattered in the fields, along the roads, in front of houses, behind the summer… providing shade for people to rest, and are a place where children gather to play. No longer a fruit for fun, the gift from the countryside has now become a natural specialty from the mountainous region, present in all remote cities, bringing in significant income.

The season of the plum tree lasts from the end of March to the end of June of the lunar calendar. In addition to selling ripe fruit, in recent years, some households have also soaked it in wine, and engineers have researched the processing of plum tree seeds into instant tea. In Nui To commune, there are also teachers who have successfully tested the processing of plum tree wine, packaged it neatly like industrial products. This innovation has been supported by the locality, who have provided feedback to further improve it. It is expected that there will be more products that create new brands for the locality, improving people's lives.

MY HANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/dac-san-tram-bay-nui-a420846.html