Salak

A couple of years ago, my pal Rew went off to Bali for a year to see his girlfriend who was living there. I lent him an Indonesian pocket phrase book and some other guide books I had. We discussed various things and the conversation turned to various fruits he should try. I told him to definitely try Mangosteens. Durians came up of course. Another fruit I told him to be on the look out for were Salaks.

Mangosteens seemed to be fairly commonplace in South East Asia, and in the case of Durians, you couldn’t avoid the damn things. I personally didn’t see Salaks however other than in Java and Bali. I don’t believe it’s cultivated anywhere other than Malaysia and Indonesia.

Salaks belong to the date palm family. They vary in size, but are generally about the size of a fresh fig or a kiwi. The most striking feature is that they are covered in a skin that look like the scales of a snake. The colloquial name for it is “snake fruit” or “snake skin fruit”. Peeling it is quite easy. Pinch the tip and the skin sloughs right off. If you put it in the fridge, the skin comes off like the shell of an egg. Once peeled, there are three lobes inside it, like over sized garlic cloves. About the same colour too - sort of an off white, cream colour. Each lobe contains a dark brown/black seed. The texture is a bit reminiscent of a very crunchy apple, or almost more like a nut. Brazil nut or Macadamia maybe. The taste depends on the cultivated variety or maybe the time of year it’s harvested. Some are semi-sweet, dry and crumbly but some are slightly juicy, soft and a bit acidic. It has a bit of a starchy mouth feel. The taste is a bit like…pineapple, but not so strong, or a very diluted citrus. I liked it a lot myself. I gather that some cultivars can be somewhat odorous, a bit sweaty smelling, but I don’t recall them smelling that way at all. 

I said half jokingly to Rew that he should mail me a couple as I hadn’t had any in 15 years. I can find Mangosteens in Chinatown in Toronto, and unfortunately I can also find Durians. But I can never find Salaks.

Rew emailed me ages ago asking for my address as he had a gift for me. In a recent email he once again asked me for my address as he had never gotten around to mailing the gift he had for me. Yesterday a package was in my mailbox. Besides returning the Indonesian phrase book, a wooden carved Salak was included. And it’s beautiful!

Very cool. Thanks Rew!