Chinese people from China's south claim to know olives from their region well, but I didn't quite believe it, because the almost subtropical climate of Canton (Guangzhou) is not one that suits olive trees. But then they provided the proof:
Unpacked they look like this:
They actually looked similar to olives, but were sweet and candied.
And inside was this stone:
I finally found out:
Canarium album, the white canary nut, is the name of the plant that produces these fruits, which look like large olives. The kernels even provide an oil. The fresh fruit has a resinous flavour. Canarium album is not at all related to the Mediterranean olive.
Bild: Wikipedia, Autor: MicrophonBen
In South East Asia, the fruits are preserved sweet or savoury and enjoyed as pickles, in dishes or as a sweet. A drink made from them is also popular and there are many different varieties, some with green fruit and others with yellow and red fruit.
And these Chinese olives offer medical help in many ways, as research shows:
There are also reports from Thailand:
สมอจีน samo chin, or กาน้า kana:
Learned something again.
Severin Bühlmann
April 2025
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