Coconuts

Our godson Olique picks his first coconut that he wants to have a taste of.

Our godson Olique picks his first coconut that he wants to have a taste of.

It amazes me at how many of our guests at Harbour Club Villas have never tasted fresh coconut right off the tree. Back home, they are used to seeing a small brown nut with really hard white coconut inside and very little milk.

Barry uses his machete to cut away the fibrous husk surrounding the coconut.

Barry uses his machete to cut away the fibrous husk surrounding the coconut.

We had Olique over one day and Barry picked the coconut he wanted from off one of our coconut palms. One of our guests who was Korean, I believe, showed Barry how to cut away the fibrous husk to reveal the top end of the nut. He used to just hack into it and use his drill to make holes in the nut so we could drink the milk through a straw. Of course some rum needs to be added and a ” fresh from the tree” drink resulted. Wow, what a person won’t do to get a taste of fresh coconut milk!

Olique has his first taste of coconut milk............hmm.....not too sure about it!

Olique has his first taste of coconut milk............hmm.....not too sure about it!

I remember when living in Castries, St Lucia, my mother used to head to the market in the early mornings to “fight over” fresh green and young coconuts. These were the not fully formed ones with a delicious jelly inside and lots of milk. Still to this day, I love those young coconuts with jelly inside.

I think I like eating coconut now.

I think I like eating coconut now.

Coconut palms do not grow here naturally but were brought and introduced to the Turks and Caicos Islands. I’m not sure about the tall ones in Blue Hills as they might have been washed ashore at some point and just ended up sprouting.

Marta

 

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