green giant hearts of palm

[crisgal]

I've just bought a tin. It says they are crunchy and go in salads. What are they?

[ethandron]

it's the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees, and harvesting it kills the tree apparently, so it's quite costly (according to wikipedia).
are you going to have it this evening? could you let us know what it's like please, i've never seen it in the shops and if it's nice i might buy some to add some interest to salads.

[~max~]

I love them! Used to have them all the time in salads in France, but I could never find them here. It was never particularly expensive though.

It's got a very soft center, within a more firm outer layer. It's delicious even cold straight out of the tin!

[londonlove]

I like them straight out of the tin too, and I love the taste of the water they are canned in. I think it must be really healthy as some of the vitamins must be still in the water.

I think they are tasty sauteed in lemon and butter, and you can use them like that with pasta (warm or as a pasta salad)...maybe with some parsley.
I've heard they come from sustainable palm plantations nowadays and we don't have to worry about the manufacturers cutting down the really ancient palm trees..hopefully, anyway!