Often referred to as millionaire’s salad, this simple, tender-crisp, delicately sweet, ivory-coloured salad is made from finely sliced heart of the coconut palm tree which is tossed with fragrant lime juice, olive oil, thinly sliced onion and seasoned with sugar, salt and pepper.
The affectionately named palm heart is a delicacy in the Seychelles and is currently harvested only from the coconut trees. Coconut trees thrive on the islands’ abundant sunshine, rich soil and thirst-quenching humidity. With a high reproductive rate and long-lifespan, coconut trees spread quickly. They live to an incredible age of 60 – 80 years and produce fruit year-round; a single tree can yield up to 75 coconuts a year. If you do the sums, that’s a lot of coconut trees.
What is the palm heart?
The palm heart is located inside the fibrous layers of the terminal bud of the coconut tree. The terminal bud is the main area of growth in most plants and is located at the top of the trunk where the leaves are located.
A little bit of historical Trivia
The palm heart was at one time also obtained from the cabbage palm tree. The cabbage palm (Deckenia nobilis), locally known as Latannyen Palmis, is endemic to the Seychelles. It usually grows to a height of 40 meters and was at one time found all over the islands growing intermittently in lowland forests, at elevations up to 600 metres.
Unfortunately, the population of the palm tree went in decline due to unregulated or illegal over-harvesting of the edible palm hearts. Those that survived grew on rocky crags and outcrops and were very difficult for humans to reach, which tentatively afforded them natural protection. Many of them are still found in the Vallée de Mai. The cabbage palm is now protected under the Breadfruit and other Trees (Protection) Act. Some nurseries currently raise the seedlings that are sold to the locals for planting.
Fresh Palm heart is delicate
Fresh palm heart, has a delicate mild-sweetness flavour, with a taste similar to a combination of asparagus and artichoke and the tender-crisp texture is likened to a bamboo shoot. It is regarded as a vegetable and is traditionally used mainly as a salad by the Seychellois cook. It is also quite versatile and can be combined with many other ingredients to form more complex salads , or topped with a béchamel sauce and cheese and gratinéed. However, the other ingredients should not overpower the delicate flavour of the palm heart. I recommend that the onion is sliced very thinly to minimise the pungent flavour and, although vinegar is also used in the salad, avoid using very strong vinegar or you will not experience the delicate flavour of the heart.
The Palm Heart is also full of nutrients
Hearts of palm are rich in fiber, potassium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, zinc , copper, vitamins B2, B6, and C and has no fat . Canned hearts of palm will have more sodium than raw hearts of palm, which have almost no sodium.
Tinned Palm Hearts
If you are desperate to taste the palm heart, you can buy the palm heart in cans. It is readily found in many supermakets. They are from different types of palms that are commercially grown for that purpose. The taste is far inferior to the freshly harvested one.
Tinned hearts of palm can be stored for an extended period of time in your cabinets or pantry until you’re ready to use them, but keep any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Harvesting the Palm Heart
The best palm heart is obtained from young trees that are about to start bearing fruits. The heart is plump and juicy. The old trees are fine but the heart starts to get smaller once the tree starts to bear, although the taste is as good.
Unfortunately, the tree has to be cut down in order to remove the heart. This kills the tree because it has only one stem. The name ‘millionaire’s salad’ is given because, once the palm heart is harvested, the entire tree dies!
Once the tree has been cut, all the leaves are trimmed off and the terminal bud is cut off just below the crown. An axe is usually used for this purpose. It is a messy, sweaty and long process. You end up ultimately with a heavy piece of stem which is then trimmed further until you have a product that still has fibrous parts but is cleaner and smaller and making it easier to carry, as shown in the photo above.
Preparing the salad
Traditionally, when the palm heart is removed from the tree, some of its fibrous layers are kept in order to protect its tender core or heart from bruising during transportation as well as minimising the oxidisation of the heart. If the delicate heart is exposed to air for too long its outer parts will start to oxidise and turn brown as shown in the photo below.
There are two sections to the palm heart. The top ‘leafy’ section made up of the tender leaves and the bottom ‘non-leafy’ section made up of the tender part of the trunk of the tree or the inner core and growing bud of the palm tree. The non-leafy part of the heart can also be cubed, shallow fried and added to fish or meat daube, replacing the fried potatoes. It imparts a nutty flavour to the dish. It has also been used to make the lapure or jungle juice. I will discuss lapure is a future post.
With a sharp knife cut away the fibrous layers and trim all hard parts until you reach the tender heart. If it is too big to handle, trim in two or separate the leafy part from the non-leafy part.
Traditionally, the heart was thinly sliced with a sharp knife. The modern way is to use a mandolin slicer. It will give you regular thickness. Prepare a stainless steel bowl with some water and add the juice of one lemon in the water. Slice the heart into the bowl. The slightly acidulated water will prevent the sliced heart from oxidising and turn brown. If you plan to complete the salad straight away, then there is no need to use the acidulated water. It takes a while before the sliced heart starts to oxidise.
Drain the water and mix all your ingredients. As you will notice, the ingredients used for the salad are mild in nature and will not overpower the delicate taste of the palm heart. Add some sugar to the salad and you will savour the subtle change in complexity of the flavour.
Here is the recipe for Palm Heart Salad- Salad Palmis
Often referred to as “millionaire’s salad”,this simple, tender-crisp, delicately sweet, ivory-coloured salad is made from finely sliced heart of the coconut palm tree which is tossed with fragrant lime juice, olive oil, thinly sliced onion and seasoned with sugar, salt and pepper.
- 1 medium Heart of Palm
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar ( Note 1)
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp chopped spring onion
- Salt and cracked pepper
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With a sharp knife cut away the fibrous layers of the palm heart and trim all hard parts until you reach the tender heart. If it is too big to handle, trim in two or separate the leafy part from the non-leafy part.
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Thinly slice the palm heart and hold in a container containing half of the lemon juice and some salt. This will stop the salad from oxidising and turning brown ( Note 2)
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Prepare your vinaigrette by mixing/ whisking together the lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, onion and spring onion in a stainless steel or ceramic bowl.
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Drain the palm heart and gently toss in the vinaigrette
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Season
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Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
- Many people omit the sugar but I am a fan because sugar gives this salad a totally new flavour dimension.
- Traditionally, the heart was thinly sliced with a sharp knife. The modern way is to use a mandolin slicer. It will give you regular thickness. Prepare a stainless steel bowl with some water and add the juice of one lemon in the water. Slice the heart into the bowl. The slightly acidulated water will prevent the sliced heart from oxidising and turn brown. If you plan to complete the salad straight away, then there is no need to use the acidulated water. It takes a while before the sliced heart starts to oxidise.
Did you make this recipe?
I hope you will enjoy preparing this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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