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How a totuma is made

Four steps, in four drawings: from the tree to the vessel.

A black-and-white drawing inside a circle: a hand holds the round calabash fruit among the branches of the tree
Illustration: Oliver Chez

A totuma is the vessel that comes out of the calabash fruit. It is not manufactured: it is harvested, opened, emptied and cured.

1. The ripe calabash is picked from the tree.

2. It is cut in half with a machete.

3. The pulp and the seeds are taken out.

4. The halves are boiled to cure them.

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A black-and-white drawing: two hands open the fruit with the edge of a machete; below, one of the halves already separated
Illustration: Oliver Chez
A black-and-white drawing: fingers pull the inside out of one of the halves; beside it, what has been taken out
Illustration: Oliver Chez
A black-and-white drawing: the two halves boil in a pot set on a wooden stand, the fire underneath
Illustration: Oliver Chez

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