Coconut

The dark brown coconut houses thick white meat that is used for daily cooking along India’s coastal areas. The question students ask me the most is how you can tell whether the coconut’s meat is sweet without having to crack it open. Here are a few pointers: Choose a fruit that has dry eyes (the three indentations on the end of the coconut, where it attached to the tree). Lift the coconut to feel its weight; it should be heavy. Shake it to hear its water splashing against the shell; if you hear nothing, chances are the meat is rotten. However, you still have to crack it open to determine whether the meat is okay. Once home, rinse the shell under water. Holding the coconut over a bowl, gently but firmly tap it around its midsection with a hammer or a meat pounder, moving the coconut around as you keep tapping. When the shell cracks open, the off-white water inside will gush out into your bowl. Taste it: If it is sweet, the meat will be too. If the water tastes rancid, the meat could very well be rotten.