Coconut [Cooking]

2007 Apr 2
Hey :)

I've never actually eaten a coconut. I've eaten the store bought dried stuff (that i love), but never bought one myself.

I wanted to know a few things (it might sound stupid, but here goes):

- best way to break it? I was thinking that it'd be nice to serve half of it (a bit cleaned out) as a little bowl for something. How easy would cutting it the way i want be? :)

- how strong is the taste? is it milder or could potentially overwhelm what i'd put on it?

- recipes, tips, etc.. all welcomed! :)


2007 Apr 2
I'm qualified to answer this because I have a climbed a palm tree and picked one. I do not recommend this. It was quite scary. Coconut palms are slippery smooth.
To open: take an awl (or something similarly solid and pointy that can be hammered) and pierce one (better two) of the three small pores at the top. Drain the liquid. You can drink this straight or use in a recipe. Place the coconut in a large Ziploc bag...unless you like a mess. Zip up the bag, lay on a solid surface and hammer. One determined (!) hit should do it. The meat can then be pried away from the shell with a sturdy, dull, dinner-type knife. You said you would like to try and keep the shell as two bowls. You could do this with a scroll saw or hacksaw (cleaned if you're fussy). It will be tougher to remove the coconut meat from this half-sphere shape, but certainly do-able. Then you could make a nice bikini top (for a friend)...or the serving bowls. One bowl will have a pesky drip though ~ remember those holes?
Coconut fresh from the shell/endocarp (I find) is quite mild compared to the desiccated and usually sweetened bagged form that you find in the stores. You can store the chunks (sealed) in your fridge. Good stuff.
For recipes...
www.epicurious.com/
And all the coconut-loving peoples on this forum.

2007 Apr 2
I'm a huge fan of coconut in general, but I have to warn you that the whole coconut you buy in stores here isn't always that great. Sometimes the water inside is rancid, and the meat has a texture that will seem strange -- almost waxy -- if you're used to the dessicated stuff. Also, the brown shells of a coconut can be a bit unappetizing because they're basically wood with very fibrous (almost hairy) bark.

That said, I've enjoyed eating coconut ice cream out of a well-cleaned half coconut shell. :-)