Hünnap | Jujube

Mavi Boncuk |
Hünnap: jujube

Ziziphus jujuba (from Greek ζίζυφον, zízyphon), commonly called jujube, red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date. n Arabic-speaking regions the jujube and alternatively the species Z. lotus are closely related to the lote-trees (sing. "sidrah", pl. "sidr") which are mentioned in the Quran, while in Palestine it is rather the species Z. spina-christi that is called sidr.

On his visit to Medina, the 19th-century English explorer, Sir Richard Burton, observed that the local variety of jujube fruit was widely eaten. He describes its taste as "like a bad plum, an unrepentant cherry and an insipid apple." He gives the local names for three varieties as "Hindi (Indian), Baladi (native), Tamri (date-like)." 

In Palestine a hundred years ago, a close variety was common in the Jordan valley and around Jerusalem. The bedouin valued the fruit, calling it nabk. It could be dried and kept for winter or made into a paste which was used as bread.

In Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan, it is commonly eaten as a snack, and is known as innab.