Monstera

[YurtGirl]

I hadn't heard that. It's the same stuff that's in Taro leaf, that's why you have to cook it so long, to break down the oxalic acid. The way I understand it, the oxylic acid has a chemical issue in humans (toxic in very high doses) but it also has a physical reaction because it's a bunch of really tiny, really sharp crystals. That's what makes the mouth itch and feel like it's got a bunch of tiny glass hairs stuck in everywhere... Ripening in the Monstera does the same thing that cooking the taro does. They do take FOREVER to ripen, don't they?! And even then, they ripen from the bottom up, not all at once, so you can only eat a bit at a time, or scoop out a bit and then refrigerate/freeze that until the whole thing is done... We're waiting on ours too, I want to attempt to make a Monstera bread, like a banana bread only with the Monstera fruit!