Taste Like Home

Hi Everyone, You remember several weeks ago when I told you that I’m nuts for coconuts? Well my nuttiness does not just stop there – cooking with coconuts. I got obsessed with the grating of coconuts. For example, which grater gives the best texture and gets the job done quickly. So what did a nut like me do? I got 4 pieces of equipment that are used for grating coconuts, bought 4 coconuts of the exact same weight, armed myself with timers and set about cracking, digging, slicing and grating coconuts.

The coconuts and their graters were analyzed under four categories: prep time, grating time, yields and textures and uses in everyday cooking.

Each coconut with its shell weighed 1 pound and 7 ounces. The graters used were the hand-box grater, the food processor, the sit-down grater and the rotary grater. A hammer was used to crack open each coconut which took about 5 to 7 seconds each.

Here’s what I found out.

There are a number of things I’d like you to note.

Cracking a coconut open is easy if it’s something you’re accustomed to doing if not it can be frustrating and frightening. Two weeks ago on the premiere of The Next Iron Chef, I noticed that some of the chefs were using the sharp edge of their knives to hack the coconut, that’s not only dangerous but damaging to the knife. We always use a blunt object to crack open coconuts such as a hammer or the back of a cleaver or if your chef’s knife is heavy enough, use the back of it.

When you plan to use the sit-down grater or the rotary grater, you want the coconut to be cracked open in halves, cross ways (horizontal). This is necessary as you will need to have a firm grip on the shell as you press it against the blades of your grater. To not have it this way could cause all manner of problems, not the least of which, grating by this method would be virtually impossible.

Digging the flesh out of the coconut to grind in the food processor or to grate with the hand grater is also tricky and dangerous unless you know what you’re doing. When using either one of these graters it does not matter how the coconut is cracked open because it will have to be further broken into small pieces in order to be dug out of its shell.

I always use a dining knife when digging out the coconut flesh; it is a lot less sharp than most knives. I also arm myself with a kitchen towel because it prevents my hands from being nicked or bruised either by the knife or the sharp edges of the coconut shell. I place the kitchen towel on a hard surface, take a piece of the cracked coconut, place both of my hands under the towel and grab hold of the coconut and the knife, I insert the knife to the bottom of the flesh and move the knife back and fro, in and out prying it from the shell.

Prying the coconut from its shell can be quick work but if the coconut shell is not dry and hard enough then it can be a challenge to remove the flesh. Therefore, when purchasing a dried coconut, look for those with a dark brown shell, don’t worry with those that look golden or light brown, it means that the shells are young. You also want to shake the coconut and hear the water swishing inside. If you shake and don’t hear anything, put it back and look for another one.

Now I know that some of you will be curious about my graters, particularly the sit-down grater and the rotary grater. Those are the names I gave to them but in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, they are also known as Indian graters. This is so because it is the Indians we first saw using and making these graters. Some may say that they are old fashioned and outdated but I’d say to you that they’re not. Grating a coconut with one of these graters eliminates any prep work, except cracking the coconut open and they provide excellent textures in record time.

I think what makes these graters great at what they do is because they are designed specifically for one thing – to grate coconut. The food processor is designed to do many things and so some things need to be prepped in a certain way before being added to it. The box-grater too is designed for various grating tasks and textures so the coconut flesh has to be removed from its shell before being grated.

Speaking of textures, I do very much like the light, feathery texture that the box grater gives, however apart from the time-to-grate drawback feature, one invariably damage their fingers in the process, especially the thumb. You see the edges are so sharp and as the coconut pieces get smaller as you grate, you are bound to have your fingers graze against the grater.

I know that after reading this column, some of you will say: great info Cynthia, thanks but no thanks, I think I’ll stick to buying the grated coconut in my supermarket freezer, the pre-shredded coconut from the confection shelves and use the canned coconut milk and cream. That’s okay. Do what works best for you. But for those of you who like grating your own coconut and squeezing the milk fresh, I hope that you are now wiser as to which grater works faster and gives you the texture you’re looking for.

Visit the blog: www.tasteslikehome.org to see pictures of the various textures and some of the things I made with my grated coconut.

Cynthia

tasteslikehome@gmail.com

www.tasteslikehome.org