RAKUM PALM

Common Name: Rakum Palm
Vernacular Name: Salak Kumbar, Sala
Botanical Name: Salacca wallichiana
Specimens From: Myanmar

Rakum palm can be found in Indochina, Malaysia and Sumatra. It is popular in Thailand as it is cultivated over there. But this species is not as common and well-known as the salak, the snake palm. This fruit is also considered as rare elsewhere.

The shape may be almost round, obovoid or slightly longish. The skin may be red, orange, reddish-brown or brown, depending on the various cultivars. It is rough with soft bristers all over the fruit.

The inside of this fruit, consists of three edible lobes, are "creamy yellowish orange" in colour. There is usually a single, dark brown seed in every lobe and the hard seeds are not edible.

The taste is semi-sweet and only mildly acidic. It is slightly juicy and soft if it is fully ripe. Tastes like a cross between a pineapple and a pear. Somewhat different and unusual taste from the common fruits. May need some acquired taste to like it.

How to eat this fruit? No knife needed. Just break off the tip and peel the skin from the top down. The tough, thick-looking skin is deceiving as it peels off quite easily. The skin is misleading as this fruit bruise easily and you can't tell from its external look. The moment you peel it, you may spot those darkened brownish blotches which smells badly and have to cut that part off. Those tough-looking skin won't be able to protect the inside of this fruit.



Fruit: Rakum Palm; salacca wallichiana; Arecaceae.


Other fruits in the same family: Salak, Barhee Date.


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SALAK

Common Name: Salak
Vernacular Name: Snake fruit, Snakeskin fruit
Botanical Name: Salacca zalacca
Specimens From: Indonesia
Specimens Weight: 90 gm [3.17 oz] (Average weight per fruit)

Salak, a native fruit from Indonesia and Malaysia but it seems to be very popular in Indonesia. Since it originated from these two "Malay-speaking" countries, the Malay name was adopted.

The fruit actually looks almost identical to the scales of a snake's skin and hence, the English name of snake fruit or snake skin fruit are commonly used instead. And it belongs to the same family as those palm dates.

Salak is considered as rare once out of South-east Asia because it is not cultivated elsewhere. The size of this fruit varies but it is about the size of a fig and with a pointed tip. It comes with brown scale-liked skin.

How to eat this fruit? No knife needed. Just break off the tip and peel the skin from the top down. The tough, thick-looking skin is deceiving as it peels off quite easily. If you put this fruit in the refrigerator and when you peel it, the skin will break off into small pieces, similar to breaking the shell of a hard-boiled egg. The skin is misleading as this fruit bruise easily and you can't tell from its external look. The moment you peel it, you may spot those darkened brownish blotches which smells badly and have to cut that part off. Those tough-looking skin won't be able to protect the inside of this fruit.

The inside of this fruit, consists of three lobes, are "off-white to creamy" color. It reminds you of an over-sized peeled garlic! There is a single, dark brown seed in every lobe and the seeds are not edible.

The taste? Depending on the various salak cultivars, some are semi-sweet, dry and crunchy but some are slightly juicy, soft and acidic. Somewhat different and unusual taste from other common fruits, so it needs some acquired taste to like it.

If you put salak in an enclosed room, you can smell the sourish aroma of this fruit. If you like it, it smells good to you but it may not appeal to everyone.


Fruit: Salak; salacca zalacca; Arecaceae.


Other fruits in the same family: Rakum Palm, Barhee Date.


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BARHEE DATE

Common Name: Barhee Date
Vernacular Names: Barhi date, Bahri date
Botanical Name: Phoenix dactylifera
Specimens From: Israel
Specimens Weight: 18 gm (average weight per fruit)

Dates are immensely popular and a stable food in the arab world since it is native to the persian gulf, dating back to at least several thousand years BC. It had since spread to most of the tropical countries where there are plenty of direct sunlight.

Barhee date is one of the popular and common dates among the numerous cultivars. "Numerous" because there are several thousands of them but most of them are virtually unknown. They are not commercially available because the taste are considered as inferior.

Barhee date can be eaten when in the raw, semi-ripe (Khalal)[refer to top photo]. In this stage, it is golden yellow or amber and it is crispy and crunchy, similar to eating an apple. The taste is slightly sweet with a slight tinge of astringency. It is an acquired taste, especially those who taste a fresh date for the first time.

It will turn brownish and soft with the skin peeling off, when it is ripe (rutab) and it tastes sweet & juicy. This type of dates are usually eaten fresh or at least, in the ripe stage and seldom in the final dried, wrinkled (tamr) stage. At any stage, no peeling is required, just eat it as it is.

Every date has a seed and the seed always reminds me of a brown cowry shell. Well, at least to me. Just don't eat the seed. So, do you want a date? I mean, want to eat some dates?


Fruit: Barhee Date; Phoenix dactylifera; Arecaceae.


Other fruits in the same family: Rakum Palm, Salak.


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