The Coconut

[zzap]

The coconut is one of the 'magic' fruits/plants in Thailand which grows almost everywhere and has a wide range of uses:

- the green nut (maprao on) contains refreshing juice and delicious tender nut-meat, it is said to be a medicine for the kidmeys.

- the ripe, brown nut also has juice, though this is not as popular, the white flesh is usually scraped out , grated and used for curries and sweets. It is also made into coconut milk, cream or oil.

- the seedling in the nut (a sort of giant beansprout) makes a delicious snack

- the shell is used to make bowls and a variety of handicrafts, a pair of polished halves is used for waxing wooden floors.

- the broken shells can be made into charcoal, which reaches high temparatures and may be used to melt silver and gold.

- the tree-wood has limited use as building material

- the fibrous husks are collected and made into...I don't know

And there is more....

[BambinA]

and also use coconut juice for wash/clean dead body's face!!

[Sir Burr]

The fronds can be used as thatch.

The fibrous stuff at the base of the fronds can be woven into mats, or, even rope.

The dried meat's widest use is as copra. Coconut oil can be used for cooking.

The meat from the nut is chock full of cholesterol, so, don't eat too much of it.

The juice is a natural laxative.

[Totster]

The juice is a natural laxative.

Sh1t.. i knew something had to be doing it...

totster

[Crossy]

- the fibrous husks are collected and made into...I don't know

All natural doormats, also had large coconut mats in the gym at school (long ago), awfully scratchy to land on, only slightly better than the wooden floor

[sbk]

- the fibrous husks are collected and made into...I don't know

All natural doormats, also had large coconut mats in the gym at school (long ago), awfully scratchy to land on, only slightly better than the wooden floor

Called "Coir" . Is also being increasingly used to replace peat moss used in hanging baskets for plants.

[Uma~~]

You can also bang the shells together to make a 'clip clop' sound, like a horses hoof.

[chownah]

Fibers from the fronds are used in making brooms.

[BKK90210]

The coconut is one of the 'magic' fruits/plants in Thailand which grows almost everywhere...

It's a "magic" fruit alright...It usually appears when you least expect it!

And there is more....

Yeh... like....never fell sleep underneath the coconut tree....if you want to live to tell about it!

[Mighty Mouse]

.....and if you sit under a coconut tree and one drops on your head, you're dead.

[Totster]

You can also bang the shells together to make a 'clip clop' sound, like a horses hoof.

55555555555.. reminds me of school....

totster

[udon]

The meat when shredded & crushed makes cream (1st pressing) & milk, (2nd pressing) essential in a lot of Asian dishes.

Esp. Green chicken curry. Aroy!

[Totster]

The Coconut Song

"Coconut Bob" Karwin

I am nuts for coconuts, the islands’ tasty treat

I am nuts for coconuts, It’s the only thing I eat

Coconuts grow big

Coconuts grow round

They grow high up in the tallest trees

Far, far from the ground

When I’m in the islands

I climb a coconut tree

I pick one coconut for you

And then pick two for me

I am nuts for coconuts, the islands’ tasty treat

I am nuts for coconuts, It’s the only thing I eat

Coconuts are filled with milk

That’s mighty good I think

Break them open if you can

And have yourself a drink

I am nuts for coconuts, the islands’ tasty treat

I am nuts for coconuts, It’s the only thing I eat

You can slice it, you can dice it or put it in a soup

You can eat it by yourself or in a great big group

You can put it in the icing for your birthday cake

There is no end to the wonderful things a coconut can make

totster

[BambinA]

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits All $33.30

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits Allade from Real Coconuts

one shell for jockstrap is half price !!!!

[astral]

A bit of light relief at last.

Great.

[Totster]

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits All $33.30

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits Allade from Real Coconuts

one shell for jockstrap is half price !!!!

Bloody 'ell... $33.30... I could make good money making them !!

totster

[astral]

A bit of light relief at last.

Great.

[Sir Burr]

Reminds me of a bit of my misspent youth.

At the age of thirteen, I joined a teenage gang called the "Hounslow Mentals". To join, you had to pass an initiation.

One of the older boys would pick out a house that had a garage next to it, and after school the initiate would have to climb onto the roof of the garage and sing at the top of his lungs the following song:-

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts

There they are all standing in a row

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head

Give them a twist a flick of the wrist

That’s what the showman said

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts etc. etc.

You had to sing for a full ten minutes and if you didn't know all the lyrics, you just sang what you knew, over and over and over again. You would have to suffer insults hurled at you from the owners of the house and the curious looks from passers by.

If you were unlucky, the house owner would be a big, brawny labourer who would twist your ear when you got down and give you a kick up the arse to send you on your way.

I got lucky. When I did it, the house owner turned out to be a rather bewildered and frightened old lady in her eighties. I managed to dodge her easily.

Them were the days, they were!

[sbk]

Sounds like a real tough gang, Sir Burr

[zzap]

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits All $33.30

Coconut Bra - One Size Fits Allade from Real Coconuts

one shell for jockstrap is half price !!!!

Bloody 'ell... $33.30... I could make good money making them !!

totster

Let's join forces and put the competition out of business.

29.99, what do you think?

[Rooo]

I want to be the BRA fitter.

[Ulysses G.]

The meat from the nut is chock full of cholesterol, so, don't eat too much of it.

Absolutely untrue.

No vegetable fat contains cholesterol, but coconuts have a lot of saturated fat which can theoretically help raise one's cholesterol levels by other means. However, many holistic health proponents claim that fresh coconut actually lowers cholesterol levels and is good for health.

Coconut water is packed full of natural electrolites as well as potasium, magnesium, calcium and many other healthy minerals and has virtually no fat of any kind.

GREAT stuff!

[Thai Chi]

Coconuts (Cocos nucifera) Worth reading it all

This fruit of the coco palm begins life on a tree that towers from 60 to 100 feet high. Because it is peculiarly suited for dispersion across tropical islands--as its big seed is filled with buoyant water and encased in a water-tight pod--no one knows or, probably, can know where it first originated (though some speculate on the Malayan Archipelago). Certainly, however, it's an incredibly nutritious and useful food--providing milk, meat, sugar, and oil and acting as its own food dish and cup. It's husk can also be burned as a fuel to cook the fruit and its milk.

Although its name was recorded in Sanskrit in the early beginnings of history, the coconut was unknown to the western world until the 6th century, when it was imported into Egypt from the Indian Ocean--and still made little impression, though Marco Polo recognized it as "Pharoah's nut" when he ran across it in India on his travels.

In the Middle Ages, coconuts were so rare and so cherished that their shells were polished and mounted in gold. By the 19th century, however, new transportation routes made them common in European markets--and throwing objects ("coconut shies") at local side shows.

As an important food source in most tropical (humid) countries, it has magic and mythic associations. Balinese women are not permitted to touch the trees, lest they drain away the tree's fertility.

And yet, the great Buddhist teacher in 19th century Burma, Thingazar Sayadaw, used the coconut to tell a very practical story:

Prologue: After a sermon at the town of Pyinmana in Middle Burma the Thingazar Sayadaw was told, "We find your lordship's sermons very instructive, but some people say that they contain no deep religious philosophy. In other words, they find the sermons too elementary." The Sayadaw smiled and said, "They remind me of the Caravan-Leader who bought a coconut and found that it was not sweet at all."

During the early days of the kingdom of Ava, a caravan of hillmen arrived with their merchandise at the market place. After selling their wares, they went from stall to stall with gold coins jingling in their pockets, looking for rare articles to be bought and taken home.

They paused before a stall selling fruit and looked in wonder at a bunch of coconuts on display. "What are those?" asked the Leader of the Caravan. "Coconuts, my friend," replied the woman stallkeeper. "They are very expensive and only kings and great lords can afford to buy them." "Of course, I can afford to buy them," the Caravan-Leader replied somewhat testily. "Name your price." Learning that the price was one silver coin for one coconut, he bought the whole bunch with a lordly air.

The hillmen then started on their journey homeward, and, after one or two days' travel, the Caravan-Leader said, "My friends, let us now taste the wondrous coconut which only kings and lords can eat." So saying, he cut the coconut, ate the outer fiber, and then threw away the nut, thinking it was a mere seed and not dreaming at all that there was sweet milk and a rich kernel inside. His friends followed suit with the other coconuts from the bunch. The Caravan-Leader then said, "Friends, kings and lords are foolish indeed to value this tasteless fruit."

Where'd they get their name? From Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. When these explorers found this fruit growing on Indian Ocean islands, they described it as a coco, or "grinning face," because of its 3 dark holes at its base which look like a pop-eyed merry face.

If you can't find canned coconut milk in a Thai/Indian market or fancy supermarket, you can make it. Just pour some boiling water over fresh grated or packaged UNSWEETENED coconut. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then blend in a blender or food processor and strain as finely as you can, pressing the solids hard before throwing them out. Add the coconut milk at the last possible minute because its distinctive flavor degrades quickly in high heat.

from www.soupsong

There you go

[Totster]

Coconuts (Cocos nucifera) Worth reading it all

This fruit of the coco palm begins life on a tree that towers from 60 to 100 feet high. Because it is peculiarly suited for dispersion across tropical islands--as its big seed is filled with buoyant water and encased in a water-tight pod--no one knows or, probably, can know where it first originated (though some speculate on the Malayan Archipelago). Certainly, however, it's an incredibly nutritious and useful food--providing milk, meat, sugar, and oil and acting as its own food dish and cup. It's husk can also be burned as a fuel to cook the fruit and its milk.

Although its name was recorded in Sanskrit in the early beginnings of history, the coconut was unknown to the western world until the 6th century, when it was imported into Egypt from the Indian Ocean--and still made little impression, though Marco Polo recognized it as "Pharoah's nut" when he ran across it in India on his travels.

In the Middle Ages, coconuts were so rare and so cherished that their shells were polished and mounted in gold. By the 19th century, however, new transportation routes made them common in European markets--and throwing objects ("coconut shies") at local side shows.

As an important food source in most tropical (humid) countries, it has magic and mythic associations. Balinese women are not permitted to touch the trees, lest they drain away the tree's fertility.

And yet, the great Buddhist teacher in 19th century Burma, Thingazar Sayadaw, used the coconut to tell a very practical story:

Prologue: After a sermon at the town of Pyinmana in Middle Burma the Thingazar Sayadaw was told, "We find your lordship's sermons very instructive, but some people say that they contain no deep religious philosophy. In other words, they find the sermons too elementary." The Sayadaw smiled and said, "They remind me of the Caravan-Leader who bought a coconut and found that it was not sweet at all."

During the early days of the kingdom of Ava, a caravan of hillmen arrived with their merchandise at the market place. After selling their wares, they went from stall to stall with gold coins jingling in their pockets, looking for rare articles to be bought and taken home.

They paused before a stall selling fruit and looked in wonder at a bunch of coconuts on display. "What are those?" asked the Leader of the Caravan. "Coconuts, my friend," replied the woman stallkeeper. "They are very expensive and only kings and great lords can afford to buy them." "Of course, I can afford to buy them," the Caravan-Leader replied somewhat testily. "Name your price." Learning that the price was one silver coin for one coconut, he bought the whole bunch with a lordly air.

The hillmen then started on their journey homeward, and, after one or two days' travel, the Caravan-Leader said, "My friends, let us now taste the wondrous coconut which only kings and lords can eat." So saying, he cut the coconut, ate the outer fiber, and then threw away the nut, thinking it was a mere seed and not dreaming at all that there was sweet milk and a rich kernel inside. His friends followed suit with the other coconuts from the bunch. The Caravan-Leader then said, "Friends, kings and lords are foolish indeed to value this tasteless fruit."

Where'd they get their name? From Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. When these explorers found this fruit growing on Indian Ocean islands, they described it as a coco, or "grinning face," because of its 3 dark holes at its base which look like a pop-eyed merry face.

If you can't find canned coconut milk in a Thai/Indian market or fancy supermarket, you can make it. Just pour some boiling water over fresh grated or packaged UNSWEETENED coconut. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then blend in a blender or food processor and strain as finely as you can, pressing the solids hard before throwing them out. Add the coconut milk at the last possible minute because its distinctive flavor degrades quickly in high heat.

from www.soupsong

There you go

I got that far...

totster