Author: William Rubel

Skeeti. Collected June 2016. Habitat: Under trees close to the dry Lengusake River, where it passes behind Lengusaka, Kenya.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Vernacular name serichoi (Northern Maa). Habitat: Savannah. Family: Capparaceae Just., Bosca coriacea. Collected June 2016, near Lengusaka, Kenya, 1500m.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya. If you know the botanical name, please comment below.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Vernacular name ldepe. Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya. Please share in the comments if you know the botanical name.

Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya. If you know the Northern Man or botanical name, please share in the comments.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Collected in the West Gate Conservancy near Lengusaka, Kenya, June 2016. If you know the botanical name, please share in the comments. My notes suggest that the wood is used for preparing the calabash. These are the seed heads.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya, July 2016. If you know the botanical name, please share in the comments.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.

Collected near Lengusaka, Kenya. If you know the botanical name, please share in the comments. My notes suggest it grows in rocks at the view point between Maralal and Wamba, and that its wood is used for preparing the calabash.

Note: My study of the smoke cured and fermented milk of the Samburu will have some application to the milk cuisines of neighboring pastoralist cultures such as the Pokot, the Rendille, and the Turkana. The woods documented here are mostly selected because they are used in the context of the Samburu milk culture, either as a wood burned as part of the process of “preparing” the lmala (“calabash”) for milking, and woods use to make the lmala themselves.

While lmala is usually translated into English as “calabash,” there are only a a few lmala that are made from gourds. Most of the twenty plus milking containers used in the context of Samburu milk production are carved from wood by women.

The botanicals used to sterilize the milk containers between uses as part of the cleaning process impart their own flavor to the finished product, and they also influence how long the milk will stay good before becoming kongu, stinky, rotten, bad.

If you have information to share about these botanicals, then please leave a comment.

Thank you.