Sago

Metroxylon sagus or M. rumphii; sagu. A palm tree whose trunk, at an age of between nine and fifteen years, produces a large amount of starch in preparation for flowering. At this point it is felled, the outer skin of the trunk is cut off, and the soft, woody interior is processed into a kind of coarse sawdust. This is repeatedly washed and strained to extract the starch itself – the sago. Other parts of the palm can also be eaten, as can the grubs that soon infest a felled tree, though it is only in certain areas that these are considered delicacies.