Sweet gold

"All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:"

- Will Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Quite so. In this case the golden glistering material is palm sugar.

Palm sugar is made from the sap of the cut flower buds of the coconut palm. The world's largest producers of coconuts are the Philippines, India and Indonesia.

Farmers make a cut on the spadix of the palm and the sap starts to flow is then collected in bamboo or plastic containers. The sap is then put into giant woks and placed over moderate heat to concentrate the sap producing a thick syrup-like substance known as a "toddy". The toddy is then further reduced to form a block or crystals of sugar.

Palm sugar is widely used in Asian cooking and can be fermented to produce a potent alcoholic drink.

If you fancy making some then this video clip will show you how.