Vegetables
palm cabbage
Synonyms: cabbage palm, palm heart, palmito; botanical name: Euterpe edulis
The cabbage palm stems from various palm species. It is grown on plantations in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. However, palm cabbages are also taken from trees that have been blown or cut down, for example, in order to make room for new building projects.
Availability
The palm cabbage is actually the inner core or the growing bud of certain palm trees. It is 34 cm thick and about 10 cm long. Being white, it resembles asparagus, and the taste is also similar. At the same time, palm hearts taste slightly nutty. The palm tree takes 1015 years to form harvestable hearts. Unfortunately, the harvest also means the death of the mature trees. Each palm has only one 'heart' and is not able to form a substitute core. The trees are felled at the harvest and are then lost.
Ingredients
100 g contain:
|
Palm cabbage, fresh |
Palm cabbage, tinned |
|
| Energie (kcal) |
36 |
30 |
| Wasser (g) |
86 |
87 |
| Eiweiß (g) |
3 |
2 |
| Fett (g) |
< 1 |
< 1 |
| Kohlenhydrate (g) |
6 |
5 |
| Ballaststoffe (g) |
4 |
4 |
| Vitamin C (mg) |
9 |
2 |
| Vitamin A (RÄ) (µg) |
17 |
13 |
| Folsäure (µg) |
30 |
6 |
| Kalium (mg) |
350 |
201 |
| Natrium (mg) |
40 |
242 |
| Calcium (mg) |
50 |
47 |
| Magnesium (mg) |
26 |
20 |
| Eisen (mg) |
1,0 |
0,7 |
Form of consumption, use, processing, practical tips for preparation
The cores of two trees are required for 1 kg of palm hearts. This makes it clear why hearts of palm are not exactly cheap, especially because as mentioned above the tree dies after the hearts have been harvested. The outer layers and the skin of the core are removed, and the hearts are then cut to a uniform length and seasoned with salt.
In Germany, hearts of palm are sold mainly in tins. They can be served as an appetizer or as a side dish. The term 'palm cabbage' is used when the hearts of palm are eaten together with the young involucral leaves that surround them. These may be prepared like savoy cabbage or lettuce.
_________________________
This article was written by
 |
With the website www.the-green-pantry.com the Fritz Terfloth Foundation of Münster offers consumers independent and competent information about plant foods and their health effects. All texts are subject to German copyright law. Information about the conditions for use of the texts by third parties can be found here. |