Everything, absolutely everything
It’s easy to wonder how the probably immortal Keith Richards ever got onto the coconut palm. And why. The fact that he then let himself fall like a coconut from that very same coconut tree probably has less to do with the ‘Bigger Bang’ tour that his Rolling Stones were on at the time, and more to do with certain substances that the now 82-year-old still consumes regularly today. However, he was denied his joyful flight above the clouds of everyday life. According to the laws of gravity, even Keith Richards is more of a falling stone than a strange bird in such cases. Perhaps (but probably not) shortly before the hard impact, it occurred to him, through his soon-to-be-aching head, that such a coconut palm, cocos nucifera, is a truly dangerous thing; after all, significantly more people are seriously or even fatally injured by falling coconuts each year than by sharks. Although, as we all know, you shouldn’t believe any statistics that you haven’t falsified yourself.
The origin of the coconut palm has never been satisfactorily explained. The problem is that its nuts are buoyant – and can take root wherever they land on land. In addition, Cocos nucifera, incidentally the only species of the palm genus Cocos, thrives wherever the temperature never drops below 20 degrees (i.e. soon: everywhere) and there is sufficient rainfall and groundwater. The seed takes almost half a year to germinate, and the trees only bear fruit from about the fifth year onwards, but then for the next 70 to 80 years. It takes another year for a nut to ripen (and be capable of striking someone), but the coconut palm compensates for its slowness by producing 10 to 15 such nuts throughout the year. In Bali, for example, it is very important that no woman touches the tree, otherwise its fertility will be transferred to her. (The picture below shows the former Finnish President Urho Kekkonen (1990-1986) in Tunisia, who probably saw himself as a role model not only for Keith Richards; it is not entirely clear how the Finn got down from the tree. More on this at the bottom of the page).
Marco Polo (1254 to 1324) first saw the coconut palm in India and then also on Sumatra – he called its fruit ‘pharaoh’s nut’, which could indicate that he knew more about its origin. On the other hand, in Egypt this palm tree is translated as ‘Indian husband’ and the fruits are ‘Indian nuts’ – and no, we don’t want to read any more detailed interpretations of this. The first circumnavigator of the globe, Ferdinand Magellan (probably 1480 to definitely 1521), also found coconuts everywhere, first on an island off Guam, and brought them to Europe (well, not him, he didn’t make the whole trip, but his crew did). However, it took a while for French and English cuisine (is there such a thing as English cuisine?) to warm to this hard fruit – and it never really caught on in the northern hemisphere. In contrast to a large part of the rest of the world, a quarter of the world’s population considers the coconut (in whatever form it is processed) to be one of their staple foods. In Thailand, for example, the flesh of a young coconut is traditionally given to infants as their first semi-solid food. It tastes better there, too, as the consistency is similar to that of a melon where it grows – but in our latitudes, we only get the long-dried specimens, as the young and therefore tender nuts are unsuitable for transport.
To be clear: a coconut is not a nut at all, but a single-seeded stone fruit*. And as such, it is fascinating in many ways, even though it does not ripen but simply dries out (the technical term here is ‘non-climacteric’). First of all, the young, still green fruits contain coconut water, up to a litre of slightly sweet, almost clear and, above all, germ-free liquid, which in certain areas is even used as a substitute for drinking water (and as an infusion solution). But more important is the flesh, which is firm and fibrous and can also be enjoyed raw (albeit with almost 1500 calories per 100 grams). Drying the flesh produces copra. This in turn is the basis for coconut oil, coconut fat, coconut flakes and a paste used for cooking in India, Burma and Indonesia; grated copra is used extensively in the confectionery industry worldwide. And the leftovers serve as excellent animal feed. Coconut milk, on the other hand, has nothing to do with milk, but is fruit pulp pureed with water and pressed through a cloth. ‘Batida de Coco’, ‘Piña Colada’ and other horrors such as the ‘Bounty’ chocolate bar are absurdities of a long-degenerated food industry (just so that’s written down somewhere). Palm sugar and palm wine are obtained from the sap of the inflorescence of the cocos nucifera, which is something else entirely. The most important thing about the coconut palm, however, is that everything, absolutely everything about it can be processed; it is one of the most important useful plants of all.
Incidentally, Keith Richards has recovered from his accident. That’s probably why he tried again a few years later. He probably takes the same view as Albert Einstein: ‘Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.’
More food is now available at: pure.
(About the picture: ©Stina Mäenpää/Pressfoto Zeeland/JOKA/ Museovirasto. With the following information: “Kekkonen decided to climb a date palm on 8 October 1965, during his official visit to Tunisia. ‘President Kekkonen ascends to the top of the palm tree, escorted by natives. Kekkonen watched the Tunisians climb in the El Hamma oasis, took off his shoes and coat, consulted with his doctor (aged 65 then) for a moment, and then set off to climb higher,’ reports Helsingin Sanomat. Kekkonen understood the image value of a photograph. When the president took off the dark suit of a statesman, he became the Urkki (nickname from his first name Urho (=Hero) of the entire nation: a lover of art and literature, a champion athlete, and a man of the people who hunted and fished. Kekkonen knew how to empathise and improvise. Historian Kati Katajisto calls Kekkonen a ‘political artist.’)
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