Palm trees (including Palmyra, Coconut, Dates etc) are a normal sight around tropical or semi tropical countries. Throughout generations, these trees have been a source of food, building material and also, although maybe not as widely known, a wonderful natural source of a fermented happy drink for many. It is called many different names in many different countries - toddy, kallu, tuak, matango, tumbu, emu, palm wine and many more. Here is my short story about toddy in my vicinity and some places where you can find them around my areas. Do note that the drink is natural and naturally fermented by itself, but some alcohol content is involved.
Palm trees especially of the Palmyra and Coconut family flowers throughout the year. Many generations of cultivators have found out that by cutting the flower stem, one can harvest the sweet sap of the tree. And this is what is done. Toddy cultivators will climb up the tree, cut a cross section of the palm flower stem, and place a container sometimes plastic or clay to collect the dripping sap. The sap is naturally sweet and collect in the container over half a day or so. Every few hours, the toddy collector will climb up the tree and empty the collection containers into a larger container he is carrying. Mind you, some of these trees can be quite tall, so these collectors are highly skilled, and climb these trees without ropes or ladders. By that time, some of the sugar in the sap in the container would have started fermenting due to natural yeast and bacteria.
Once collected, the semi-toddy is physically filtered with a mesh filter to remove any dirt or insects etc, and can be enjoyed almost straight away, or stored in larger containers for a few more hours or overnight so the fermentation can increase the alcohol count. The longer it is kept, the stronger the alcohol content will be. Just to note that no other ingredients is added to what is naturally obtain from the tree. When the toddy is fresh, it’s a little sweet and hint of sour notes with a fizz, and a wonderful coconut/palm aroma to it.
In countries such as southern India, Malaysia, many outskirt smaller towns have toddy shops which serves very good food accompanied by toddy. Many of which would provide fresh or old/stronger toddy, and serves good spicy fare which goes very well with the drink. Because the alcohol content is not very high, it’s a great place for socializing. And because it’s all natural, it’s apparently good for health in sparing quantities.
In an example outskirt toddy shop in Kerala in south India, some highly recommended food to go with toddy will be aapam (a fermented rice pancake), spicy beef fry, kappa (tapioca), fish curry, and such.Toddy is usually served in earthenware pots as it helps the toddy breath, it’s alive with active fermentation going on.
Here is me with my brother @Sariga visiting a fairly well known toddy place (Mullapanthal Toddy shop in Mullanthuruthy in Kerala https://goo.gl/maps/T4vw1jSqYb72 )and enjoying good food there.
Some good places to sample toddy in Malaysia
Banting Toddy https://goo.gl/maps/p9EB2AdhDd52
Coconut Flower Seafood Klang https://goo.gl/maps/gE3WM6misYG2
Puchong Lim https://goo.gl/maps/vWdL5aKTENT2
and many more places outskirts
Some good places to sample toddy in Kerala
Licensed shops thorough out Kerala available (search on Google Maps)
https://www.google.com/maps/search/toddy+kerala/@9.9793499,76.3156255,9.5z
If you are around the outskirts of town and would like to try this, take precautions as with all alcoholic drinks to drink responsibly. Don’t drive after drinking.
Do you have a palm based fermented drink around your country? Share your information and experiences.
).
