Continue reading "Better Bread - Breadfruit and Breadnuts"

After exploring the healing qualities of Caribbean Sea and Sulphur waters I could not resist continuing the watery theme and raving about one of my favourite cleansing waters on the planet; coconut water. Of course I am not talking about bathing in it but going internal and drinking it - preferably in gloriously large quantities!

Tall palm trees bearing coconuts is a quintessential image of tropical Caribbean islands. Yet more than just an iconic figure, coconut trees are a vital and life enhancing part of daily living. The uses for this amazing plant are multiple, but for now I’m focusing on the juicy, delicious water contained within the tender coconuts. For anyone unfamiliar with it, coconut water is the water from a young coconut and is not the same as coconut milk from the mature ‘nuts’ which I recently wrote about as being in my all-time favourite food list!

A young coconut is often referred to as a ‘jelly coconut’ on account of the delicious slippery food to be found inside. The sweet water is naturally filtered and acts as an instant re-hydrator, nourisher and detoxifier of the body. I definitely subscribe to the philosophy of ‘a jelly a day to keep the doctor away’. Well actually more than one if possible!

So what makes me so hyper-excited and enthusiastic about this seemingly simple tree seed? (Yes actually the coconut is not a nut at all but a seed) Well as a natural health advocate, I have found that coconut water is an essential part of an optimally healthy lifestyle. For instance, the water is a natural diuretic making it useful for treating urinary infections, kidney and urethral stones and cases of mineral poisoning. Drinking a few coconuts provides a laxative effect and so is a useful colon cleanser which has been shown to kill intestinal worms. The high potassium and electrolyte levels of the water make it a perfect isotonic sports drink which is useful for providing energy and aiding recovery from high exertion. Continue reading "The Fluid of Life - The Healing Qualities of Coconut Water"

After my last blog entry about cocoa tea, my desire for it has increased and the pots I am making get larger everyday. One of my most essential ingredients, as mentioned in the preparation instructions, is coconut milk – which to my mind is the next best thing after breast milk!

If I was anywhere but the Caribbean I could maybe justify obtaining this delicious elixir from a can. But with coconuts literally falling all over the place here, I would be nuts to do anything other than make it myself. I’ve played around with various ways of doing this and with the aid of modern technology have just discovered the quickest and easiest way so far!

You see for years I have been doing it the ‘hard’ way. This process involves breaking open the hard nut, removing it from the shell with a knife and putting my biceps into regimental training by grating all the pieces on my little metal grater. I did, for a short while, have a really cool grater which consisted of a sharp piece of metal affixed on a thick piece of wood. You could sit on the wooden part and, by breaking the coconut neatly in half, grate each piece over the metal part. It sped up the process many times over and was a much more fun way to obtain my grated nut. However I was on borrowed time with this cool gadget and once I returned it to the owner I had to go back to my biceps and kitchen grater…until last week.

Continue reading "Coco-loco! -The Wonderful Benefits of Coconut Milk!"