Palm heart
Palm heart , palm heart or palmito refers to the edible tissue of the trunk and leaves at the top of a palm (the vegetation cone ). As Palm carbon tender young leaves and young leaf shoots, buds of various palm species are understood.
Palm hearts are obtained from various types of palm, including cabbage palms ( Euterpe edulis , Euterpe oleracea ), babassu palms and peach palms . The main growing areas are Brazil , Paraguay and Argentina . The palm trees are often not planted specifically, but used as a waste product from the clearing of the jungle.
For harvest, the palms are felled when they are ten to fifteen years old - the removal of the vegetation cone means that they would no longer be able to grow. After removing the inedible leaf shells, about 500 grams of palm heart are obtained per plant. Peach palms have many (up to 40) independent shoot tips, so some hearts can be removed from this species without killing the plant. Palm heart can also be obtained from coconut palms , but this only happens when the palm no longer supports, as the coconuts have a higher economic value.
Palm hearts have a delicate consistency and an intensely nutty taste that is best shown raw. In Europe they are almost only available - cut to the same length and preserved in brine - as Hearts of Palms or Cœurs de Palmier from several suppliers in cans or glasses.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ernst Mayerhofer, Clemens Pirquet (Ed.): Lexicon of Nutrition. 5. Delivery, Springer, 1926, ISBN 978-3-7091-2127-6 (reprint), p. 1195.
- ^ Utilization of Tropical Foods. FAO, 1989, ISBN 92-5-102776-5 , p. 18.