Monday 18 July 2011

Now that's what I call a coconut!

I never used to like coconut. Those flakes are dry and definitely not very tasty. Even that one time I smashed open a coconut and tried a bit, I was not super impressed. Better than the flakes, but still dry and hard.

Well, as it turns out, the coconut that I used to know is only the inside of one. Yeah, you know when you would draw pictures of a tropical island as a kid and throw in a couple palm trees? Those coconuts you drew were not accurate. Sorry.

A real coconut is this oval of ruggedness that you have to chop with a machete to get to the good stuff. And when you get to that sphere that most resembles what we see in grocery stores, it is not dark brown. It’s a light shade of tan, bordering white. Now with this sphere of goodness, you can either slice it to make a small “lid”, or puncture it to make a hole. It must be done carefully because you wouldn’t want to spill the translucent liquid inside. Coconut milk. Well, it’s more like coconut water. Regardless, peering into my first coconut, all I felt was freshness. It’s like a little oasis inside this rough shell.

Once you drink the water, you are in for the best part; the white, soft flesh that surrounds the inside of the shell. Oh man, it is soooo good. It’s moist, and has a very subtle kind of milky taste. It’s hard to describe. It’s just awesome. (Yeah… fruit part beats out the water by a million… had trouble drinking that stuff)

Anyways, there is more to this post than me describing a coconut to you. Despite how much access to information we have, despite being supposedly connected to the world, I think we don’t know as much as we think we do. It’s a stupid little thing… but it bothers me that I used to think that little brown ball was what grew on a tree. It bothers me that I didn’t realize what I bought at that grocery was not a fresh coconut. It bothers me that I never even questioned it for a second.

I realize that a lot of people probably know that the Canadian version of a coconut is the inside and it’s not fresh. Hey, I may be the only one who didn’t realize. But, it’s just an example. The point is, I think we can all use the access to information and knowledge we have a little better. It starts with questioning things and being observant.

Who knows, maybe you’ll try some fruit you used to not like and realize it’s the most delicious thing ever.

Later days,
Daniela

1 comment:

  1. Being from south India, I LOVE coconuts!! And I know exactly what you mean about the juicy flesh on the inside.. sooo good! But the brown cocounts that we usually see can be fresh (although they usually aren't), they're just the ripe version of a coconut usually used for cooking. That's definitely not how they grow on trees though!
    Personally, I prefer the juicy ones :)

    ReplyDelete