Coconut

Jamaica Observer Eating Well: Coconut

Island folk know a thing or two that know-alls from the metropolitan centres don’t. One thing we know about is the coconut. We know for example, that coconuts grow on trees, we know that the clear liquid inside the coconut is coconut water and that coconut cream and coconut milk are what you get when you grate a fresh coconut and squeeze it with a little or a lot of water. A lot of people who don’t have the opportunity to live with coconuts getsconfused about things like that. Ask any of the tourists who visit us. Sometimes though, we don’t know what good we’ve got. We often take this fabulous fruit for granted.

Coconut can add so much flavour and textural interest to many of the dishes that we prepare: add thickness and flavour to curries and gravies, to sauces and soups; add to cereals and pastries and desserts of one kind or another. If it were handy, we would probably use more of it, but to go to the trouble to crack a coconut and extract the flesh and then to grate it and go on to make coconut milk takes a certain dedication. Frozen coconut cream and canned coconut, and more recently coconut milk powder, are all on the market for those of us who cannot find the time. But with modern appliances like the blender and the food processor, today’s cook does not have to suffer the pain her grandmother had, skinning her knuckles on a sharp grater.

Really, there is nothing like the right tool for the right job. In Asian countries a grating machine that screws on to the end of a table like a meat mincer is used very successfully. It has a number of curving, serrated blades, which meet at a central point like a citrus juice extractor. First they remove the juice from the coconut by piercing the eyes with a screwdriver (or ice pick), then they saw or crack the coconut in half. Then they stand in front of the grating machine, one hand holding the coconut half with the grating blades inside it and the other hand turning the handle on the machine. The coconut is grated right inside its shell! No danger of stabbing oneself with knives or skinning knuckles as there is, when one uses the grater and the conventional method. Why can’t some enterprising entrepreneur manufacture (or import?) some of these?

Here is a tip when you extract coconut cream in the blender: Use the least amount of water that is necessary to cover about a cup of coconut bits in the blender container. Blend thoroughly, then strain reserve the grated coconut. Pour back the same liquid into the container with another cupful of the coconut bits, and continue to process the remaining coconut bits with the same amount or very little liquid. You end up with fairly thick cream. The grated coconut can now go through a similar process with more water to make a lighter, less rich coconut milk and here is an important hint to remember when cooking with coconut cream: Because coconut cream contains some protein, it curdles and separates out when it is boiled. This does not matter in some dishes, but in others where a creamy consistency is desirable, the addition of a little cornstarch helps to prevent the curdling. In any case, it is best to simmer coconut cream, and not to cook it at higher temperatures.

The Amazing Coconut Pie is a simple treat. Combine 2 cups milk with ¾ cup sugar. 2 tablespoons flour, 4 eggs, ¼ cup butter or margarine and ½ teaspoon vanilla in the blender container. Cover and blend on low speed, stopping and starting occasionally, for 3 minutes. Pour into a 9” pie pan. Let stand for 5 minutes, then sprinkle on 1 cup grated coconut. Bake at 350° F for 40 minutes.

© Elizabeth North 26/06/1995