on coconut juice

When I first went to tropical countries I learned the pleasure of drinking coconut juice. I'm actually not sure whether "juice" is the right word. I'm referring to the slightly cloud, sweet liquid that is found inside green coconuts.

Until then, my only experience with coconut was the shavings on certain candy bars, and I didn't like it. But when done right, coconut is delicious.

For those of you who don't know, when the coconut is still green, it has a fair amount of a slightly cloudy, sweet liquid in it. The shell of the coconut is very thick, roughly one inch or so, and very tough and woody. On the inside, it's lined with a milk-white gelatinous sweet substance which I think is used to make coconut milk, which is a staple of Thai cooking.

I first drank coconut juice in Thailand. There, it's served in a shell that's cleaned and trimmed and has a fancy little umbrella coming out of a hole in the top, plus a straw to drink out of. It looks like a fancy tropical drink, and I supposed a lot of people do spice the juice up with alcohol. It's called nam ma prow-on.

In the Philippines, it's called buko -- and it's not served in the shell. Vendors open up the coconuts and drain the juice into one large vat which is kept cool. Plus, they scrape off the white gelatin that's on the side so you drink it when these white strips in it, from a glass or a plastic baggy with a straw in it and the top secured with a rubber band. Street vendors will have a big pile of empty coconut shells in a truck compartment behind them.

The Philippines is where I got some buko the freshest way possible -- a guy climbed a tree in his sandals, hacked off a coconut, then opened up a hole in the top with the corner of his machete's blade. No straw, so I just drank right out of the coconut.

In India, it's sold by elderly women sitting in the street or on a beach. They have a pile of whole green coconuts on one side of them, a pile of empty coconut shells on the other side of them. When you order a drink, she grabs one of the whole coconuts, uses a special heavy iron tool to cut four corners in the thick husk, then pries out that piece. Then plops a straw into the hole and hands the coconut to you to drink right there, so you can throw the empty shell down.

My mother took our family on a cruise around Hawaii a few years ago. One of the side visits was a trip to a coconut plantation. I didn't go, but my sister and niece and nephew did, so I asked them whether they got to drink any coconut juice. They were puzzled and said that a guide had told them it wasn't good. They thought I was crazy for asking.

A few years later I saw a childhood friend who now lives in Florida. She told me that the convenience stores there carry coconut juice still in the shell. They're just kept sealed and stored in a cooler.

You can try it for yourself if you go to a local Asian restaurant. Look in the drink section of the cooler. You may find the Nestle Mangolia brand of buko in a small carton. You may also find cans of Coco-Rico, a soda made from coconut juice that's quite delicious. You may also find that in a Hispanic food store, since I think Coco-Rico is made in Puerto Rico or Costa Rica.