Palm syrup (, ) is an edible sweet

syrup In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...

produced from the sap of a number of palms. It is produced in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

and coastal regions of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Species

In the Canary Islands, palm syrup is produced from the Canary Island date palm ('' Phoenix canariensis''). In

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, palm syrup is produced from the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Chilean wine palm ('' Jubaea chilensis'').C. Michael Hogan. 2008
''Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
Other species used include the coconut palm, sugar palm, and palmyra palm.

Production in the Canary Islands

Most ''guarapo'' and ''miel de palma'' production occurs in the municipality of Vallehermoso on

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third-smallest of the archipelago's eight main islands. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La Gomer ...

. The process of collecting sap from the palm and concentrating it into syrup is similar in many ways to the process used for

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

. The sap, known as ''guarapo'' or ''garapa'', is collected from a bowl-shaped depression cut into the

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

of the tree. As guarapo spoils quickly in

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

, the harvesting is done overnight. Every evening during the harvesting season, the ''guarapero'' (farmer) prepares each tree. He climbs to the top of the tree, often using a ladder, uses a sharp

knife A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least Stone Age, 2.5 million years ago, as e ...

chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...

to trim the bowl to remove surface crust and open the pores, and hoists a bucket into place beneath a pipe or channel leading from the bowl.bienmesabe.org, "La Gomera. La cultura de la palma (1)" (in Spanish)
/ref> Early the next morning, he returns and collects the filled buckets, containing ten or more litres from each tree. The harvested ''guarapo'' is then brought to, or collected by, a local processing plant, or may be processed on site. Processing involves boiling the sap for several hours until it is reduced by about 90% to a dark brown syrup that is rich and sweet. It is then packaged, typically in glass jars.pellagofio.com, "De la savia de las palmeras, un jarabe llamado ‘miel’" (in Spanish)
/ref> Palm syrup tends to thicken and crystallize over time. After about four to five months of being harvested every day, during the period January to June, a tree needs five years to recuperate before it is used again.

Uses

Palm syrup is used to accompany many pastries and desserts, such as

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

s and

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

. The syrup is widely used in Southeast Asian cooking. In

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, where it is known as ''jhola gur'', it is only obtainable in winter. Its sweetness tempers the flavours of spicy curries, adding its rich,

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

-like flavour to the food. It is also widely used as an ingredient in desserts, or drizzled over prepared foods. Palm sap is a refreshing drink, and fermented palm syrup is distilled to produce various alcohols such as arrack, a spirit similar to

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

. On La Gomera, the palm honey obtained from the sap is mixed with ''parra'' (similar to

grappa Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume (70 to 120 Alcohol proof, US proof). Grappa is a protected name in the European Union. Grappa is made by ...

) to produce ''Gomerón''. Palm syrup is also traditionally used on La Gomera for general medicinal purposes.

References

{{reflist

External links

Photo-series showing the production of miel de palma
Canary Islands cuisine La Gomera Syrup Edible palms

Species

Production in the Canary Islands

Uses

See also

References

External links