25/04/2026
Working with Perah isn’t straightforward. It’s naturally bitter, dense with fat, and not immediately expressive. Instead of breaking it down, we started by roasting it slowly, trying to understand how the flavour changes with heat. As it takes on colour, the bitterness softens slightly and a nuttiness begins to come through, but it never fully lets go of its edge.
From there, it’s folded into a custard with honey and churned into an ice cream. Familiar form, unfamiliar flavour.
In it, the elements are simple. Bidara (Ziziphus mauritiana) is candied to bring a soft acidity and chew. Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is made into a gummy for a sharper contrast. The ice cream is then coated in a dough made from local chestnuts and shaped back into the form of the seed.
It’s less about transforming perah into something new, and more about understanding how far it can go when treated differently.
