The flavourful African horned cucumber

It seems ridiculous that the delicious horned cucumber is not a regular feature on the fruit shelves of our local supermarkets, because it is grown commercially in a host of other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the US.

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Most of the vegetables we grow come from other parts of the world, writes Tom Kha Gai at thegardener.co.za, but if we do a little investigation. we find all sorts of interesting African edible plants. One such plant is the horned cucumber.

The horned cucumber (Cucumis metuliferus) is native to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola. C. metuliferus is a fascinating plant with a long list of other common names. These include African horned cucumber, wild cucumber, horned melon, spiked melon, and the cuke-a-saurus.

The horned cucumber has been cultivated for more than 3,000 years. It is is part of the cucumber and melon family, Cucurbitaceae, but the flavour of the fruit is bolder and more tropical than you’d expect.