Hi all,

I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from coconut
stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
already been harvested.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Jay

--
"Unlike you, I have no problem spanking men." -Angel

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:55:22 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
>felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
>idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
>think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from coconut
>stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
>already been harvested.
>
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
>-Jay

Do you mean an actual coconut flower stalk with the flowers on it?

I had no idea one could eat that part of the tree.

......Alan.


--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

"A.T. Hagan" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:55:22 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
> >
> >I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
> >felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
> >idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
> >think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from
coconut
> >stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
> >already been harvested.
> >
> >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >-Jay
>
> Do you mean an actual coconut flower stalk with the flowers on it?
>
> I had no idea one could eat that part of the tree.



It's not so much the stalk, just the bud which has been cut off. The flower
is about the length of my hand extended. I'm certain it's edible since it's
tender and smells pretty okay. And it was being sold in a bin along with
dragonfruit, tamarinds and pomelos.


-Jay

--
Never mind about should you or shouldn't you: the question is - will you or
wont you?
-ashleigh brilliant

Jay wrote:

> "A.T. Hagan" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:55:22 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:
> >
> > >Hi all,
> > >
> > >I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
> > >felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
> > >idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
> > >think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from
> coconut
> > >stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
> > >already been harvested.
> > >
> > >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > >-Jay
> >
> > Do you mean an actual coconut flower stalk with the flowers on it?
> >
> > I had no idea one could eat that part of the tree.
>
> It's not so much the stalk, just the bud which has been cut off. The flower
> is about the length of my hand extended. I'm certain it's edible since it's
> tender and smells pretty okay. And it was being sold in a bin along with
> dragonfruit, tamarinds and pomelos.

I wonder if one could make a drink out of it a la Mexican licuados?

April

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 14:31:11 GMT, april-g > wrote:

>Jay wrote:
>
>> "A.T. Hagan" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:55:22 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:
>> >
>> > >Hi all,
>> > >
>> > >I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
>> > >felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
>> > >idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
>> > >think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from
>> coconut
>> > >stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
>> > >already been harvested.
>> > >
>> > >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>> > >
>> > >-Jay
>> >
>> > Do you mean an actual coconut flower stalk with the flowers on it?
>> >
>> > I had no idea one could eat that part of the tree.
>>
>> It's not so much the stalk, just the bud which has been cut off. The flower
>> is about the length of my hand extended. I'm certain it's edible since it's
>> tender and smells pretty okay. And it was being sold in a bin along with
>> dragonfruit, tamarinds and pomelos.
>
>I wonder if one could make a drink out of it a la Mexican licuados?
>
>April

Fascinating. I've eaten my weight in palm heart, mostly from the
cabbage palm, and I knew about making palm toddy from the sap
extracted from the flower stalk, but I've never heard of eating the
bud itself. If it's tender I don't see any reason why you could not
as the palm heart itself is certainly (deliciously) edible.

If the flavor and texture is anything like palm heart I like them best
raw, with perhaps a bit of salt sprinkled on it. Were I to cook it
I'd do a fast stir fry so it'll remain crunchy. The traditional
manner which we fixed palm heart (also known as swamp cabbage) was to
boil it with a bit of butter and perhaps some onions, but now I think
that's a maltreatment of so delicate a treat.

......Alan.


--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

Hi All,

Thanks for all the suggestions etc. I found out today WHY I couldn't find
any information on eating coconut flowers. It's not a coconut flower. It's a
banana flower! I'm in culinary school right now and I took it to school this
morning and looked it up in Gastronomique and found a handy picture and
everything. Much easier to figure out how to use it now.

I went back to the shop this afternoon to check the label (to make sure I
wasn't insane in reading coconut flower) and indeed, it was mislabelled.
Hopefully they'll change the label.

Thanks again!

-Jay


--
Never mind about should you or shouldn't you: the question is - will you or
wont you?
-ashleigh brilliant

april-g > wrote in message >...
> Jay wrote:
>
> > "A.T. Hagan" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:55:22 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:
> > >
> > > >Hi all,
> > > >
> > > >I just purchased a coconut flower from my local market (mostly because it
> > > >felt and smelled attractive. A weakness, I know). I find myself having NO
> > > >idea how to use it and I've googled as many combinations of words I can
> > > >think of and nothing's coming up except how to harvest the sap from
> coconut
> > > >stalks. I do not believe this is an option since my flower has obviously,
> > > >already been harvested.
> > > >
> > > >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> > > >
> > > >-Jay
> > >
> > > Do you mean an actual coconut flower stalk with the flowers on it?
> > >
> > > I had no idea one could eat that part of the tree.
> >
> > It's not so much the stalk, just the bud which has been cut off. The flower
> > is about the length of my hand extended. I'm certain it's edible since it's
> > tender and smells pretty okay. And it was being sold in a bin along with
> > dragonfruit, tamarinds and pomelos.
>
> I wonder if one could make a drink out of it a la Mexican licuados?
>
> April
In S India and Sri Lanka, the flower is cut off the end and a bucket
placed under the stump and the juice is collected daily. They have a
couple of ropes between these really tall Palm trees and the guy goes
from tree to tree and when the collection bucket is full, lowers it
down. Some of it is fermented and distilled into a firey liquor.
Other is refined into a type of sugar. Never seen anyone just drink
the juice-bet it would be good though.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:36:26 GMT, "Jay" > wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>Thanks for all the suggestions etc. I found out today WHY I couldn't find
>any information on eating coconut flowers. It's not a coconut flower. It's a
>banana flower! I'm in culinary school right now and I took it to school this
>morning and looked it up in Gastronomique and found a handy picture and
>everything. Much easier to figure out how to use it now.
>
>I went back to the shop this afternoon to check the label (to make sure I
>wasn't insane in reading coconut flower) and indeed, it was mislabelled.
>Hopefully they'll change the label.
>
>Thanks again!
>
>-Jay

OK, well, I'm sort of disappointed and relieved at the same time.
Disappointed that it's not a coconut flower that can be eaten and
relieved that I hadn't some how missed hearing about it all these
years.

So then, how does one eat a banana flower? I vaguely recall hearing
about them being eaten, but I don't think I've ever heard of how one
goes about preparing them.

......Alan.


--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

>
> OK, well, I'm sort of disappointed and relieved at the same time.
> Disappointed that it's not a coconut flower that can be eaten and
> relieved that I hadn't some how missed hearing about it all these
> years.
>

I know. Heh. I felt the same way. It felt like a very urban
adventure...suddenly *I*, Joe Nobody in the middle of a big city discover
that coconut flowers are good to eat....I thought I had discovered something
new and exciting. Hah. It's an ego thing I suppose =P

> So then, how does one eat a banana flower? I vaguely recall hearing
> about them being eaten, but I don't think I've ever heard of how one
> goes about preparing them.


Not sure how they are usually prepared but I basically pulled the leaves
apart, tried them raw, (they were tender and nicely textured but a little
bitter and sticky like eating banana peel) and decided to steam them a
little, which I did with a few other vegetables, then I threw them in a
green coconut milk curry and ate the whole thing with kaffir lime rice. It
was quite nice. The texture of the banana flower was like something between
bamboo shoots and lemongrass (not nearly as fibrous). Very nice.

-Jay


--
Never mind about should you or shouldn't you: the question is - will you or
wont you?
-ashleigh brilliant