A TOAST TO COCONUT.

Greetings, blogosphere. I hope my absence did not bring too much sadness and grief upon you dear readers. If you somehow missed the all-important news (via my gchat away status, bbm status, Facebook status, Out-of-Office agent, word-of-mouth, general dark cloud that hovered above Manhattan), I was away in Brazil for the past week. I left Friday evening, and arrived Saturday mid-day in Rio de Janeiro. We departed Rio on Wednesday to head over to Bonito, which is far more inland, near Bolivia and Paraguay. After spending a few days in the wilderness, we suffered an un-amusing 32-hour return journey to New York.

Blogging about vacations is one of the hardest, most overwhelming things to do. How do you blog about a week's worth of experiences without nearly passing out? This probably won't help launch my career in travel writing. To make things a bit more manageable, I decided to begin with one topic, and then take it from there. I may decide to attempt a Top 10 Rio/Bonito post in the very near future. But for tonight, I will focus on Brazil's most abundant natural sweetener (don't quote me on this) - YEE OLDE COCONUT.

Coconuts are to Brazil as pineapples are to Hawaii. They are nearly synonymous terms and the Brazilian flag should probably bear the shape of the coconut or at least allude to this powerful, all-in-one fruit/vegetable/nut. Each day I was in Brazil, I consumed coconut in at least one form. Now that I am back in the U.S., I am going through some serious coconut withdrawal.


Behold the coconut tree - this one was sighted in the forests surrounding the Sucuri River in Bonito.


Along the beaches in Rio de Janeiro, coconuts hang on outdoor food stands waiting to be hacked into for their refreshing coconut water. Only the young, green coconuts contain this miracle water - which is naturally fat free, low in calories, and also a great cure for hangovers!!


Delicioso - agua de coco. And the containers are totally environmentally friendly! GO GREEN.

You must be wondering, by now, how coconut milk is made. The coconut takes about one full year to ripen, and the white meaty part, technically known as the ENDOSPERM, is what will be used for the creamy counterpart. The milk is produced by steeping grated coconut in hot water, and then straining.


Brazilian sweets are absolutely amazing. Many are Portuguese-inspired (think eggs...god, I love eggs) ANNNND of course include sugar and coconut, which are both very prevalent in Brazil. See above for different types of coconut flans and quindim. Delicately firm texture, not overly-saturated with sweet (just saturated enough), perfectly creamy.


The above image is a coconut egg custard that reminds me so much of the Chinese coconut tarts that my father loves from the Chinese bakery. Behind that is a toasted tapioca/coconut globular!!! Very interesting grainy/chewy texture with the taste of toasted marshmallows and a hint of sweet coconut. I apologize that I do not know any of the proper Brazilian names for any of these dishes!!


Another coconut bread served with our lunch - a mixture of corn bread and coconut, lightly fried, and cubed. A savory, sweet addition to any meal.


This was the absolutely sweetest form of coconut that I had in Brazil. It is a deliciously thick, gooey log made of condensed milk, coconut, and other gelatinous substances. So sickeningly good that it ACTUALLY makes you feel guilty if you don't finish it. Because it sits there. Taunting you. With those eyes. So you have to eat the whole thing. Or it would be a waste of heaven on Earth. Essentially.


Of course I had to stop at the Duty Free shop on the way home to pick up tax-free chocolates!! Lo and behold I discovered Ferrero Rocher's DELIGHTLY EVIL twin brother, FERRERO RAFFAELLO. A coconut counterpart, if you will. At first you bite into a snowball of coconut, and then your senses become introduced to a thin, crisp wafer shell which serves as a protective fortress to a butter-creamy filling and a crunchy almond. This box was supposed to wean me off of my coconut addiction, and quell the cravings resulting from days of indulgence. But after only 2 days, my coconut stash is nearly depleted. Are we surprised?

I will end this post with a few fun facts about coconuts:

-Over 20 billion coconuts are produced annually. Each tree lives for about 70 years and can produce about 70 coconuts per annum.
-150 people are killed by falling coconuts every year - I am NOT SURPRISED ABOUT THIS because throughout my trip various large SEEDS fell on my head as I walked below trees. And it was NOT AMUSING.
-Before evil SOYBEAN OIL arrived on the scene in the 1960s, COCONUT OIL used to be the world's leading vegetable oil.
-Coconut oil has been proven to lower the risk of HEART DISEASE and better cholesterol levels. In countries where coconuts are abundantly consumed, cardiovascular disease is much less prevalent.
-In 1957, the first monkey training school was established in Surat Thani, which is located in in Southern Thailand. Monkeys undergo an intense 6 week course where they are trained to pick coconuts, and upon graduation - these monkeys (typically macaque monkeys) can average about 1000 coconuts picked a day!!!

Hook me up to an I.V. of coconut water, stat.