Fresh hearts of palm difficult to find, even in Hawai'i
By Kaui Philpotts
Advertiser Staff Writer
You have seen them in the gourmet section of your supermarket, and maybe even tasted them in a salad at a fine restaurant. Hearts of palm are delicious cold, drizzled with a little salad dressing, or they can be added to main dishes.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
They are the edible, inner part of a cabbage palm, the state tree of Florida, and grow in many tropical climates around the world. Hearts of palm are pale and slender, about 4 inches long and pencil-thin or fatter.
Hearts of palm, from Florida's official state tree, are seldom available fresh, but they're also delicious canned or from jars.
They resemble canned white asparagus, and even taste a little like them. The texture is very much like that of an artichoke.
In the United States, most hearts of palm come from either Florida or Brazil. Although some Island chefs have found sources of local hearts of palm, the rest of us have to buy it in bottles or canned and packed in water.
Once you have opened them, use them up within a week. You should store unused hearts of palm in a non-metal container in their packing liquid.
