Palmito looks sort of like little white logs with a texture that is somewhere between rubbery and fibery; its flavor is sort of a less pungent incarnation of artichoke hearts. You can get pickled palmito, which is probably slightly more flavorful, but I just bought mine raw in a little bundle at the feria. It’s a decent protein source and a good base for other things that have a bit more flavor.
Between the internet and a great little crossover tico/extranjero veggie cookbook I bought the other day at another local feria, I have uncovered a bunch of great recipes and have been working through them one by one. Today’s was a loose version of this recipe for a tasty salad with avocado and lime:
I diced up the palmito and avocado and tossed them together with a dressing of lime juice, salt and pepper; then garnished it with parsley from the garden. Delicious! And very refreshing. I was out of green onion this time around, but might add a little bit of normal onion next time.
Yesterday’s palmito foray was mini-frittatas with egg and cheese from this recipe. I used Katia’s delicious freshly-made mozzarella, diced it up along with the palmitos and tossed them together with pepper. I filled a muffin-tray with the mixture, and covered it with eggs beaten together with salt and olive oil, then baked it at 325°F for 20 minutes.
Delicious! I generally find cheddar frittatas a little too heavy, so the delicate combination of mozzarella with the mild flavor of palmito made these very subtle & brought out the saltiness of the olive oil. Really good!
So on account of how palmito seems to go a very long way, I have approximately 5 more meals to go before I’ve used up all of mine. I’ll branch out for some good further recipes, but I would say already that I’m a palmito convert, if just because it’s such a nice addition to bulking out salads and other recipes.
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