Ingredients
Sap
- 4 litresfresh coconut toddy
- collected the same morning
Equipment
- a wide heavy pan
- a long wooden spoon
- a fine sieve
- clean bottles
To use
- spread on bread
- poured over puddings
- stirred into drinks
- used as a sweetener
Directions
- Use it immediately or not at all. Pour the sap through a fine sieve. Strain it twice if it looks dirty. Pour the strained sap into a wide heavy pan.
- Bring it to a boil over a steady heat. Skim off the foam that rises at the start.
- Let it boil steadily and openly. Watching it takes several hours. Stir it occasionally at first.
- Stir it constantly towards the end. It starts cloudy white and thin. Drop a little onto a cold plate. It should sit rather than run.
- Stand back and stir with a long spoon. Keep children well away from the pan. Let it cool slightly but stay pourable. Pour it into clean dry bottles.
- Seal them once it has gone cold. It keeps many months at room temperature. Spread it on bread like a dark honey.
- Pour it over puddings and rice. Stir it into drinks as a sweetener. Use it in baking in place of syrup.
Technique
- Toddy is the sap of the coconut flower spathe, which is bound to stop it opening and sliced thinly each day so the cut surface keeps running.
- Fresh sap begins fermenting within hours in tropical heat, which is why it must be boiled the same morning it is collected.
- Climbing coconut palms to tap them is genuinely dangerous and skilled work, and this entry records the practice rather than teaching it.
Substitutions
- There is no substitute made the same way, though palm sugar syrup is a related product.
- Ready-collected sap is sold in some places and saves the climbing entirely.
Variations
- Different makers stop the boil at different colours, from pale gold to deep brown.
- Fermented toddy is drunk as an alcoholic drink in its own right across the Pacific.
- The same sap is boiled down into syrup across Kiribati, Tuvalu and elsewhere.
History
Nauruan toddy cutters climb before dawn to bind and tap the flower spathe, then reduce the sap over fire.
Frequently asked questions
What is Coconut Toddy Syrup?
Coconut Toddy Syrup is a sauce & condiment from Nauru: palm sap boiled to a thick dark syrup; spread on bread and puddings. Nauruan toddy cutters climb before dawn to bind and tap the flower spathe, then reduce the sap over fire.
How long does Coconut Toddy Syrup take to make?
Coconut Toddy Syrup takes collecting takes daily work of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes about 500 ml. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Coconut Toddy Syrup?
Yes, within limits. There is no substitute made the same way, though palm sugar syrup is a related product. Ready-collected sap is sold in some places and saves the climbing entirely.
What is the most important thing to get right in Coconut Toddy Syrup?
Stir it constantly towards the end. It starts cloudy white and thin. Drop a little onto a cold plate. It should sit rather than run.
