Some Uses of the Cocoanut
By A. Currow
In civilized countries the cocoanut is not appreciated, nor made use of as freely as it should be. From it may be obtained some of the best substitutes for dairy butter, cream, and milk. These products, if properly prepared, are sweeter, more palatable, and agree better with dyspeptics than dairy products. Process for Making Cocoanut Milk
Select good nuts, those which have plenty of water inside. Scrape off all loose fiber, and have the shell smooth and free from particles. Crack the nut in two, around, as neatly and evenly as possible. Pour the water into a bowl, and use for diluting milk or adding to a soup or other dish. A stout piece of iron one and a half to two inches wide, one eighth of an inch thick, slightly turned up at one end, rounded off and filed into fine teeth with upward groove, makes a most durable grater. The other end of the grater may be fastened or screwed to a piece of board or the seat of an old stool. Grate out finely all the flesh, avoiding the hard skin inside. The finer the grating, the easier the next process, of wringing, and the richer the milk. Have hot water ready, and add one pint for each nut grated; mix together well, and allow to stand until cool. Make ready beforehand one or more cloths, ten to twelve inches square, cut from good, firm material; prepare a wide bowl or dish, into which spread open the cloth. Put into it some of the gratings, take up the ends, and wring gently, then vigorously, until nothing more can be squeezed out. The last wringings contain the milk elements, being rich in proteids. The milk is now ready for the table, needing neither straining nor sterilizing. A little salt added gives a better flavor for use with vegetables or grains. Milk thus made can be used for baking breads or biscuits, for either boiled or baked puddings, and is far superior to cow’s milk as stock for vegetable soups. In tropical climates it keeps a whole day without scalding, only a little salt being added. For a good cream suitable for fruit dishes or any other way in which ordinary cream is used, the process is the same, the quantity of water being one cupful to each cocoanut. Let stand in a cool place, and skim off the cream when risen. The process is the same, the quantity of water being limited to one cupful for three cocoanuts, the wringing being done more thoroughly. Pour the milk into a flat enameled dish, place on stove, and heat, not too rapidly, to simmering. In a few minutes the albumin will coagulate. When it has all thickened, remove the dish and let cool rapidly. It will then set into the consistency of jelly, and is ready for use. No oil is separated if the milk is heated quickly and not allowed to simmer too long. With or without salt added, it is very palatable, and is an excellent, pure substitute for dairy butter. With salt added, it will keep for three days in a warm climate, and longer in a cold. If kept on ice, it could probably be kept for five days. One can partake of it freely on bread, with vegetables or fruit, without fear of taxing the liver or in any way deterring digestion. Children take to it readily. To some the taste is a little rich at first; but after a few trials a liking is acquired for it. A few drops of lemon juice mingled with it impart quite a new flavor, much relished by some. The value of butter thus prepared is that it contains fat in a perfectly emulsified state and ready for digestion, which is not the case with dairy butter. The latter, when used with hot foods, melts, and saturates the particles, so preventing the gastric juice from penetrating and dissolving the albumin present. The cocoanut gratings left need not be thrown away as useless. Save some, and the rest give to the fowls. Fowls relish nut foods, improve in flesh, and lay more eggs of a better quality, when fed thereon. A rich brown gravy can be made from the gratings by adding thereto a little water. Let boil, strain off the liquid, thicken with brown flour, and salt to taste. This adds a pleasant nutty taste and rich flavor to the gravy. Keep the shells for ironing day, and use for fuel, and the irons will give little cause for distress. The shells may be made into little pots for hanging ferns, suspended by thin wire passed into holes bored through the shell, and fastened above.—A. Currow, in Australasian Good Health.