[Mihalic] talis / Terminalia catappa

[Andy Newlin - Caliber Creations]

Andy Newlin wrote:

Speaking Kuanua with the Tolai of Malabunga, ENB is where I learned 
about the talis.  If I remember correctly, they grew in huge trees in a 
fist-sized fruit that one must cut open to find the talis nut in the 
middle.  The nut had a dark brown edible outer layer, and the inside 
cross-section was the most intriguing part, because the white 
coconut-textured layers were spiraled, and could be pulled off in 
layers.  The spiraled layers were 2-4 mm, and the entire nut was 3-4 cm 
in diameter.  The taste was light and sweet, and indeed fit the 
definition of a "tropical almond."

I"m not sure if I have a photo of one, but I'll look.  I remember the 
talis being very tasty - one time we melted chocolate and made 
chocolate-covered talis nuts :)

C A Volker wrote:

>The entry for talis asks for more information about the origin. The entry
>suggests Kuanua, it is also a word in Nalik (NIP) "talis" or , when preceded by
>a vowel "ralis". Probably cognates exist in other NI languages?
>
>On-line searching has turned up "tropical almond" as an English equivalent.
>
>Craig Volker
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