Waree Palm 
Edible Plant from the Rainforest
CASKE 2000 > Survival > Food > Jungle Edible Plants > Waree Palm
Waree Palm PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEAN-PHILIPPE SOULÉ © 1999
Preparing and Eating the Flower
The flower is protected by a shell covered with hair-like spines. The skin can be cut with a machete or knife, then peeled by hand. The white flower inside is all edible raw, but be careful to cut the small hair at the base. This flower is very nourishing but lack of taste. Ignacio brought some grinned habano peppers mixed with salt, rolled in a banana leave to add taste to most of the food he gathers from the rainforest.
Preparing and Eating the Nut
The nuts come into grapes. They are very similar to mini-coconuts. In their young stage, he flesh is soft and the nut contains water. After maturing, it becomes very hard, there isn't any water left and the flesh tastes very much like a coconut. The shell is very tough and protected with a spiny skin. A machete will cut it open, but the best way is to break the shell with a stone. If nothing is available, people with strong teeth might follow Ignacio's example. Personally I will try to find a stone because I can't open it with my teeth.
Preparing and Eating the Heart and Shoots
Although there isn't very much too eat, the top part of the core is the most delicious. It is sweet and tender. You find it by cutting the core at the level where the branches start. After removing all the branches and skins, you cut open the last layer and extract the white core which is ready for consuming. As you split the last branches apart, you might find some new shoots which are also edible and delicious.
Photos
Plant with Flowers ; Opening the Flower ; Collecting the Fruits ; Cutting the nuts ; Nuts and Flowers ; Open nuts and Flowers ; Opening a nut with the teeth ; Getting to the heart 1 ; Getting o the heart 2 ; Heart and Shoot ; The Heart ready to eat
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