commonly referred to as jaggery (or gur) in S. and SE Asia, where it is widely used, is obtained from the sap of various palm trees, notably Arenga pinnata and Borassus flabellifer, the palmyra palm.
The sap is produced when the tree converts its starch reserves into sugar in preparation for the growth of inflorescences at the top of the stem. The procedure for obtaining the sap often involves maltreating the young inflorescence, e.g. by pummelling it with a wooden mallet over a period of several days, to bruise the tissue inside and set the sap flowing. The sap is collected in containers set to catch it as it flows out of incisions in the trunk. The flow may continue for two or three months.
The actual sugar content of the sap varies from 10% to over 15%. The product sold in the markets, often in a neat ‘parcel’ formed by a folded leaf, is brown and crumbly. In Malaysia it is called gula melaka (after Malacca, a centre for its manufacture), and in Indonesia gula jawa (for Java).
Palm honey (miel de palma) is a sweet product which sounds similar but is made by boiling down the sap of yet another palm, Jubaea chilensis, the Chilean wine palm (or coco de Chile or honey palm). The fruits of this palm have edible kernels which resemble small coconuts and are called coquitos or cokernuts or pygmy coconuts, occasionally available as an exported delicacy.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
