What is "salak"

n. 1 The pear-shaped fruit of a palm native to Indonesia. 2 The palm (''Salacca zalacca'') that bears this fruit - also called salak palm.

Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It is cultivated in other regions as a food crop, and reportedly naturalized in Bali, Lombok, Timor, Malaysia, Maluku and Sulawesi.

It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to long; each leaf has a 2-metre long petiole with spines up to long, and numerous leaflets. The fruits grow in clusters at the base of the palm, and are also known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin. They are about the size and shape of a ripe fig, with a distinct tip. The pulp is edible. The fruit can be peeled by pinching the tip, which should cause the skin to slough off so it can be pulled away. The fruit inside consists of three lobes with the two larger ones, or even all three, containing a large inedible seed. The lobes resemble, and have the consistency of, large peeled garlic cloves. The taste is usually sweet and acidic, with a strong astringent edge, but its apple-like texture can vary from very dry and crumbly (salak pondoh from Yogyakarta) to moist and crunchy (salak Bali).

Salak is a species of palm tree.

Salak may also refer to:

• Mount Salak, West Java, Indonesia
• Salak, North Sumatra, Indonesia
• Salak, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province
• Salak Airport, near Maroua, Far North Region of Cameroon