Figure 5

Preparation technique of jícaras or bowls made from C. cujete fruits. Fruits are collected when mature; at this stage, fruit’s colour turns from deep green to pale green or yellow-green; the fruit loses its shiny aspect and if pinched with a fingernail, no mark remains in its surface (this can be interpreted as the pericarp being already lignified; if the fruit is immature, bowls are too soft and get deformed when drying). After cutting the peduncle as short as possible, the two halves are defined in the fruit’s surface with the help of a knife’s point and a thread that surrounds the fruit vertically (always from the scar of the peduncle through the base of the fruit). The fruit is then cut with a fine-toothed saw following the line mark. Pulp is extracted and thrown away (A). The halves are boiled in water with lime from 5 to 20 minutes, until the remaining pulp attached to the pericarp is soft (too much time in the water will propitiate an oxidation of the pulp, which would leave a black, undesirable stain in the bowl) (B). The pulp is immediately scrapped off with a spoon or an easy-open can end (C). Bowls are then washed with clean water and let drying upside-down for a couple of days outdoors.