What a fun way to spend Christmas day, beginning with gathering coconuts and ending with warm coconut bread, fresh off the grill.
The coconuts were lying all around so we had our pick. We looked for brown coconuts, not green. The green ones have more liquid, which is good for drinking, but not enough flesh which is what we needed for the coconut bread.
On the beach was an iron rod filed to a point to facilitate peeling the husk off the coconut.
A series of whacks and then you can pull the husk off, being careful to keep your fingers away from the pike, as demonstrated by Florence, our friend, who was sharing this skill with us.
Until you get a nice big bowl of coconut flakes.
And leftover coconut to munch on.
Next the coconut shavings are placed in a nut bag (like a large tea bag) and the coconut milk is squeezed out.
Add self rising flour to the coconut liquid, salt and pepper and water as needed. Mix it all together until it is a solid mass.
We took a short break to go gather leaves from the Beach Hibiscus tree, or Purau.
The leaves are used to make a sort of dough sandwich.
and placed on the grill over the coconut husk fire.
Flipped a few times,
And then thoroughly enjoyed!
What a great way to spend Christmas Day! I hope yours was enjoyable as well!
And now- the story told in poem form, written by artificial intelligence (AI)
'Twas Christmas day on a tropical isle
Where coconuts lay waiting for a smile
We searched for brown ones, not green
For they had more flesh, which was keen
With an iron rod sharp as a spear
We stripped off the husk, holding it dear
To our fingers, as Florence showed us how
To avoid the pike, of this we vow
Next came the machete, a fearsome blade
We searched for the eyes, nose, and top of the head
One swift whack or a series of taps
Until the liquid flowed and the coconut snapped
We scraped the insides, on a board so wide
With a round metal scraper, our hands did glide
Until a bowl of flakes we had made
And munching on leftovers, we were not dismayed
The flakes in a nut bag, squeezed to extract
The milk, then mixed with flour and the other specs
Of salt and pepper, water as needed
A dough was formed, our mouths greedy
We took a break to gather some leaves
From the Beach Hibiscus, or Purau, as it cleaves
To the sand, and with them made a dough sandwich
To grill over coconut husk, a fine match
Flipped a few times, and then we could see
The perfect coconut bread, meant just for me
I hope your Christmas was as delightful as mine
Filled with fun, joy, and delicious food that is fine!
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