Cocnut - The Extra-Ordiary Nut
Coconut – The Extra-Ordinary Nut
Coconut, a fruit-bearing tree that belongs to the family of palms, are commonly found in tropical countries, along shorelines and farm lands. If you are from countries where coconuts are not usually found, you might just think that it’s simply part of a beach scenery or a landscape design as you visit tropical regions.
What makes coconut an extra-ordinary nut? Well, a single nut could have so many usages more than you can imagine.
As Dessert and Refreshment
Have you ever been to the Philippines? If you did, you must have had tried the all-time favorite of the Filipinos, “Buko-salad” or “Buko Halo-halo”. It is a kind of “salad” using fresh coco meat in its opened nut, with other sweet jellies, corn kernels, little bits of bananas and milk added into it, usually served as desserts in restaurants. It’s a definite one-of-a-kind dessert you would never wish to miss.
Aside from “Buko Halo-halo”, coconut is also famed as the best natural refreshment. Coco juice is in demand in food courts, served purely or with milk, quenching thirst in the heathiest way. Both coco meat and juice are used as shake flavor, too.
Furthermore, coconut milk (when coco meat is grated, water is added into it, then sieved) is also part of many Filipino cuisine such as Bicol Express, and many more. It would taste so good that you will surely come back for more.
As Source of Income
In South East Asia, coconut serves as a source of income. Coconut meat are dried and sold as copra. Copra are then processed to produce various products such as oil. Processed coco oil are even used in shampoos for its glossy effect on hair.
Miscellaneous
Now, you might think that it’s only the meat, juice, oil and milk that we could get from a coconut fruit. Well, that’s not it. Even the coco’s husk and shell have their own share to make it an extra-ordinary nut. Long before floor tiling or matting came to the Philippines, coconut husks are used to make floor shine after waxing. These are still used in some houses in the country nowadays, especially in remote areas.
The coco shell, on the other hand can be used as fuel, either by making it a charcoal or burning it directly in open-field cooking, such as camping.
So is there any nut in this world that can beat our coconut? Remember, we only talked about coconut as a fruit, we haven’t talked about the tree, the leaves, and even the roots here. Follow my blog if you want more. Feel free to share and comment to this post.