Coconuts
Coconut is one of the most
consumed fruit around Brazil. It plays a big role in Brazilian culinary
and its water is consumed straight from the fruit and used to produce coconut
milk.
When the coconut is still
green, the endosperm inside is thin and tender, often eaten as a snack.
But the main reason to pick the nut at this stage is to drink its water;
a big nut contains up to one liter. The meat in a young coconut is softer
and more like gelatin than a mature coconut, so much so, that it is sometimes
known as coconut jelly. When the nut has ripened and the outer husk has
turned brown, a few months later, it will fall from the palm of its own
accord. At that time the endosperm has thickened and hardened, while the
coconut water has become somewhat bitter.
