Toasted Coconut Chips

Almost everywhere in the South Pacific, toward the end of my busy day, I would sit down in a friendly place, relax, perhaps have a drink and then, on the table before me, an islander would place a small wooden bowl of coconut chips. To a palate overexposed to salted and honey-roasted nuts (on commercial flights) or bar mix, these were a remarkably different snack. I came to expect them. If they were absent, I would feel disappointed, losing the special sensation that I really was in the Sou