Fruit of the Week: Sweet Sugar Palm Fruit

Name: Sweet Sugar (Palmyra) Palm Fruit

Brand: Masagana

Place of Purchase: Uni-Mart Korean Market in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: The Phillipines

Price in Iowa: $1.59 for 12 oz.

Description: Tiny translucent, ovoid jellies

Flavor: Added banana flavor makes it hard to tell more than sweet.

Aroma: Flowery (and banana-y).

Texture/Mouth-feel: Firm jelly, like a gumdrop

Notes: In a culture with less access to processed sugar, sweet fruits are prized. The sugar palm produces a number of sweet and starchy products for the people in the South Pacific and South-east Asia. The jelly hearts found in the sugar palm fruits are mildly sweet, but they have a unique mouth-feel: a firm, turgid jelly, with an even consistency. If the sweetness doesn't sell you, the mouth-feel might. I was happy to get my mitts on these fruits. Typically, they would be mixed into salads or cakes, but I just ate them as is. I'm hoping for a sugar palm trifecta: fruits, palm wine and arrack. Make myself a little cocktail.