How do you feel about coconut?

[tbb113]

Sometimes I feel like I'm in the minority when it comes to coconut. I like coconut milk, but not coconut itself.

How do you feel about coconut?

[kimmer99]

I'm a pretty big coconut fan. I remember when I was little, my Dad would buy a coconut every now and then and crack it open on the back porch. I always thought eating that coconut was cool. Have to remember to do that w/ my girls this summer.

[SueK]

Tyra- I'm with you. I don't care for coconut, but I do love coconut milk.

[wallycat]

I love coconut milk in thai dishes (nectar of the gods, I think I posted once :o ) but coconut is just OK....unless it is attached to chocolate....then it is inhale-worthy :D

[LaraW]

I loooooooooooooooooooooove coconut in all forms.

[Natasha]

I do like it well enough, but wouldn't necessarily say I LOVE it. I love coconut milk, though.

My favourite coconut experience was maybe when my husband and I met a fisherman and his wife on a beach in Mexico and started talking, and the fisherman climbed a coconut tree, brought down some coconuts, and cracked them open so we could drink the juice. That was cool!

Natasha

[Jsmith82]

I really like coconut in all forms. My boyfriend will eat just about anything, except coconut, which he strongly dislikes. I think it is mostly a texture issue - he likes coconut milk (especially in Thai iced teas and tom yum soup!).

[blazedog]

Coconut milk is nice in curry but I don't live or die for it.

I'm not a huge fan of coconut -- given the choice I would pick another chocolate or cookie. Some homemade cookies made with coconut are okay but the commercial ones that I recall are despicable as are Mounds.

I guess I feel the world is made up of so many wonderful tasting high caloric things that I would prefer to spend my calorie/fat budget on other foods.

[aggie94]

Originally posted by LaraW
I loooooooooooooooooooooove coconut in all forms.

Ditto. It always seemed to me that coconut was one of those "love it" or "hate it" foods, with not many folks on the fence. I love it - even had a coconut wedding cake. Mmmmmm, coconut. :D

[ssusan]

I really like fresh coconut, but things made with coconut are generally only okay to me. There are some exceptions.

-Susan

[RebeccaT]

Yum yum. Love it in savory dishes, in baked goods, in candies... I even like artificial coconut flavoring. How sad is that? :o :)

[stefania4]

I'll eat it in small amounts, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to have. If I'm at a shower and the cake is coconut, I'll have a small piece. If I'm ordering dessert at a restaurant it won't be coconut.

[MusicMom]

I dislike coconut in any form.

[KimKelly]

I never liked coconut until my new neighbor moved in 2 year ago. She loves coconut and puts it in a lot of things, one of my favorite being a coconut cake. She literally made me try the cake and my goodness was it good! I'd always avoided cocount until then. Since then I've even used up 2 whole packages of coconut I've purchased myself! (Jamacian Banana Bread being one thing I use it on!)

I still can't do the coconut rum though....

Kim

[lorilei]

Pretty much a fan of coconut -- and because it's so GOOD for you, I'd like to eat it more often. But I haven't quite gotten used to the idea of adding it to our diet (except in the case of coconut milk).

I grew up seeing coconut strictly as a dessert -- so I think I missed the boat for a good many years on this amazing fruit.

[boisewinesnob]

I generally LOVE coconut, but prefer it in sweet foods. I do like it on prawns (battered, fried kind), but I don't like it in most other non-dessert foods.

[pilgrim719]

I love it, but just as a friend. :p

Seriously, though...I really do love most coconut things, except for custards because they taste too eggy, and coconut cream candies because they taste too sweet (love stuff like Mounds, though, so chewy coconut fillings are okay)...but other than that, I can't think of a coconut thing I haven't liked.

Kari

[whatscookin]

Love coconut! I especially like making chicken with coconut. I just dip the chicken in an egg batter, then in a mixture of flour and coconut. I just sautee it in some olive oil and voila! I like it with rice or spinach salad. Its super easy and since people don't usually cook with coconut, its usually a big hit!

[sneezles]

I like coconut milk and love toasted coconut but can't stand the white plain stuff. I think it's more of a texture issue rather than taste though.

[slknight]

Originally posted by aggie94


Ditto. It always seemed to me that coconut was one of those "love it" or "hate it" foods, with not many folks on the fence. I love it - even had a coconut wedding cake. Mmmmmm, coconut. :D

Eva, I guess we weren't separated at birth after all. :p I can't stand the stuff!

[CompassRose]

I love it. I particularly adore the weird sorta-crunchy texture. I like crunchy things with soft things. (President's Choice Coconut Cream Pie Ice Cream.... mmmmm.)

I like some coconut flavourings -- I use plain extract in things -- but it can be dicey. There are some fake coconuts that taste like sucking on a 70s tanning freak, specially in coconut liqueurs and candies. Bleeee-yuck. Someone once bought me a cocktail thingie made with coconut liqueur and some kind of melon liqueur, and both were hideous -- I almost reverse-peristalsed right there, even though it was my first and only alcoholic drink of the evening!

[AndreaU]

Mmmm... Mounds/Almond Joy candy bars, German chocolate cake, macaroons, chocolate coconut clusters, etc.

Love it all- no matter what form (milk, fresh, toasted, flaked, straight out of the bag :rolleyes: )

[Canice]

I voted "love it!" but I was thinking mostly of coconut milk. That said, those fluffy cakes with creamy white frosing and coconut? **siiiiiigh** However, coconut cookies and candies are almost always way too sweet for me, and I find the fresh stuff hard to eat.

[Aubergine]

i adore coconut in most every form (except lite coconut milk) and i'm always experimenting with a handful or two in recipes when i'm baking. the only bad experience i can recall was a bag of low-fat, unsweetened coconut flakes i bought at TJ's last year. DD and i tried and tried to like them, but we wound up tossing it out.

[SandyM]

I will avoid, at all costs, shredded coconut. It's definitely a texture thing.

I love love love fresh chunks of coconut, and I love the flavor of it in beverages or dishes.

We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. At some hokey touristy thing, a guy climbed a coconut tree, brought one down, and cracked it open. He said the juice that comes out of it isn't really coconut milk. He shredded the fruit on a shredder, squeezed it out, and said what came from that is actually the coconut milk.

Can anyone confirm this? It's not earth-shattering that I know, but I'm just remembering this story. ;)

[Angelina]

Originally posted by SandyM
I will avoid, at all costs, shredded coconut. It's definitely a texture thing.

I love love love fresh chunks of coconut, and I love the flavor of it in beverages or dishes.

We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. At some hokey touristy thing, a guy climbed a coconut tree, brought one down, and cracked it open. He said the juice that comes out of it isn't really coconut milk. He shredded the fruit on a shredder, squeezed it out, and said what came from that is actually the coconut milk.

Can anyone confirm this? It's not earth-shattering that I know, but I'm just remembering this story. ;)

He's right...the liquid in the coconut is coconut water. The milk is squeezed from the flesh itself. And I LOVE coconut. Most of all, the coconut jelly you get as dessert when you go for Dim Sum. I even buy the mix to make it at home sometimes. :)

Angela

P.S. Anyone has a recipe for macaroons that is not shredded coconut held together with egg whites? I don't like the texture either..

[leightx]

I like the flavor of it in mixed drinks, but will avoid anything with shredded coconut at all costs. Especially if coconut is in icing, like in German Chocolate Cake. Waste of a perfectly good chocolate cake, if you ask me! DH hates it - flavor, texture, everything about it.

[HoneyBun]

Just love the stuff! When I was a kid, "Mounds" was my favorite candy bar and still is. The other crazy thing that I would do was sneek into my Mother's coconut supply and take a big pinch of it to pop into my mouth to suck on. Now that I don't have to worry about getting caught doing it, it never crosses my mind. :D But I enjoy it in all forms.

HoneyBun

[tbb113]

I knew I had to be in the minority with so many coconut recipes floating around CL and these boards :D

[newtricks]

Another lover of all things coconut.

Mmmmmm. Pina Coladas, curries, coconut rice, fresh coconut on the beach, Mounds, coconut macaroons, dh's coconut flan, german chocolate cake (thanks for reminding me Leigh!). And the smell of Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil not that I use it anymore but it takes me right back to Newport Beach circa 1979.


I agree with Aubergine (and Bob from another thread) about light coconut milk. Yuk - save up for the real thing.

[kwormann]

Originally posted by newtricks


Mmmmmm. Pina Coladas,

Nuff said!!!! :)

[NewMrsG]

I also really love coconut - but have noticed that a lot of people don't so I try not to use it when I entertain. We almost made a chocolate-coconut fondue for dessert one night when friends were over and decided not to risk it at the last minute - we were glad to hear when our friends got there that they both hated coconut!

[erinsue]

I'll jump in on the minority side. I also enjoy coconut milk in certain dishes, but that is the only way that I'll eat coconut anything. Not sure where my aversion came from, but it has stuck with me, despite many times of trying to make myself like it.

[Cherise]

Originally posted by tbb113
Sometimes I feel like I'm in the minority when it comes to coconut. I like coconut milk, but not coconut itself.


It may be a minority, but you're not alone. The texture of coconut is what I can't stand. The flavor doesn't bother me, just the texture. Yuck!

[Okiedokie]

I'll agree with the statement that a lot of people don't care for coconut, and I wouldn't risk serving it without knowing for sure the ones eating like it. Most everyone in my bunch likes the taste alright, but won't eat things containing coconut. It's the texture they don't like. They think it's like eating straw or something.
:(

[masimmons]

I think its the only food I absolutely don't like at all - even after multiple tries.