2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Baltic herring (lat. Salacca zalacca) - a fruit tree plant belonging to the Palm family.
Description
Herring is a fast-growing palm tree with a knobby short trunk and growing up to two meters in height. The length of its feathery leaves can reach from three to seven meters, and on the leaf petioles, blackish rather long spines can be seen clearly visible to the eye. On the underside, the leaves are whitish, and on top they are glossy and greenish.
Since the herring is a dioecious plant, its inflorescences are female and male. Male inflorescences differing in clavate shape can reach over a meter in length, and female inflorescences are usually much shorter - as a rule, their length does not exceed thirty centimeters.
The rough fruits of herring tapering to the bases in a wedge shape can have both pear-shaped and oval shapes. In most cases, they reach a diameter of three to four centimeters, and their average weight is fifty to one hundred grams. By the way, bunches of herring grow at the very bases of the trunks just above the ground. All fruits are covered with a brownish scaly skin, which is easy to remove. Such an unusual skin is very much reminiscent of snake skin, in connection with which the herring was also nicknamed "snake fruit". The flesh of these fruits is usually beige and formed by one or more segments. Herring has a refreshing and very pleasant taste, somewhat reminiscent of banana and pineapple and has a light nutty flavor. But unripe fruits knit very strongly, since they contain quite a lot of tannins. Inside each fruit, one to three inedible oval brownish pits can be found. As a rule, herring begins to bear fruit only from the fourth year, and it takes about six months to ripen its fruits.
Frequently, herring is confused with such a fruit as rakam, believing that rakam is the Thai name for herring. In fact, these are completely different fruits. Crayfish are distinguished from herring by a more concentrated taste and a reddish color.
Where grows
Basically, herring grows in Southeast Asia. Moreover, in Indonesia, the season of this fruit is celebrated throughout the year, and in Malaysia and Thailand it falls from June to August.
It is believed that the most delicious herring grows in Java near Yogyakarta, as well as in Bali. And some amateurs manage to grow this unusual culture at home from an ordinary bone.
Application
Herring fruits are eaten raw or salads and compotes are prepared from them. And unripe fruits lend themselves well to pickling.
In order to peel the herring, it is necessary to carefully tear or cut its scaly skin at the very edge, and then remove it in the same way as the shell is removed from the eggs.
Tannin, contained in the herring and giving these unusual fruits a peculiar astringent taste, helps to remove a wide variety of harmful substances from the body and has antihemorrhoidal, antidiarrheal and hemostatic properties.
Dangerous properties
When you try herring for the first time, do not immediately eat too much of it - excessive zeal can lead to allergic manifestations such as a rash or itching, as well as provoke a digestive system upset. And to avoid diarrhea, you should purchase only fresh fruits.
How do you pick good fruits?
When choosing herring, it is best to give preference to larger round fruits, since the smaller the herring, the more sour it is. And if it is colored in pinkish-purple tones, this indicates that the fruit is too sour. Brownish fruits have the best taste. Moreover, the darker the color, the sweeter and more aromatic herring will be. And to the touch, all fruits should be hard enough - their softness indicates that the fruits either began to deteriorate or are overripe.
