 In
Gambia it
is extracted from the "palm palm" tree, by palm wine tappers, most often
Bainunka men who climb
the trunk using a strap made from rope or leaves called a kajandak.
They tap the tree just below the flower-stalk of the male
inflorescence and attach a gourd there for a while. The
juice is fast fermenting and contains glucose and sucrose. After tapping the
tree, stick a bottle in, and wait eight hours or so for the container
to fill with wine. Palm wine comes from the tree fully fermented, with
a yeasty taste that can range form very sweet to fairly sour. The
sweetest comes from a tree tapped for the very first time—men often
call it the drink of females due to its low alcohol content and sugary
tang. It is locally known as Sengga and the Jolas have a dance which
represents Cassa-tappers in their daaka, brewery production.
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Stronger liquor is had by trees that have been tapped many
times. You can buy palm wine at a local tapping ground called
Nature, which can be found near the golf course in Fajara —for
best luck, ask a Gambian friend for directions. Don’t buy
bottle-loads, because it gets stronger and sourer with time,
spoiling totally within a few days. Refrigerate it if possible.
If you are drinking at the beach, kept it fresh by burying the
bottle in the sand.
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