Going nuts... coconuts, actually.

First, let's set the mood. Music please, maestro...

Harry Belafonte's classic 1957 song, "Coconut woman":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF5LGyTEpIk

Coconut woman is calling out
And everyday you can hear her shout
Coconut woman is calling out
And everyday you can hear her shout
Get your coconut water, four for five
Man it's good for your daughter, four for five
Coco got a lotta iron, four for five
Make you strong like a lion, four for five

A lady tell me the other day
No one can take her sweet man away
I ask her what was the mystery
She say coconut water and rice curry
You can cook it in a pot, four for five
You can serve it very hot, four for five
Coco got a lotta iron, four for five
Make you strong like a lion, four for five

Coconut woman says you'll agree
coconut make very nice candy
The thing that's best if you're feelin' glum
Is coconut water with a little rum
It could make you very tipsy, four for five
Make you feel like a gypsy, four for five
Coco got a lotta iron, four for five
Make you strong like a lion, four for five

Coconut!

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So, what made me start raving about coconuts? We were at the supermarket (the one where I bought a Giant electric kettle jug), and we came home with two supposedly "fragrant young coconuts" (just like what's in the video below).

Trouble was, how do we slice off the top? We had never done it! We eventually did, not too well (don't ask how). Later, we Googled, and for our next (no longer virgin) effort, we should have a more satisfying experience, thanks to the video below:

How to open a coconut quickly without making a mess: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfo5BYR9yE0

And there's a video by someone named Natalie claiming to tell you "the truth about coconut". But note that while fresh coconut water is nutritionally good, the white fibrous flesh is mostly fat! And I didn't know that there is "extra virgin coconut cooking oil", claimed to be preferable over extra virgin olive oil because the former remains stable at high (cooking) heat.

Here's the video, with my usual caveat emptor reminder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=FTRMhv31FFQ

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Coconut trivia

* There is this Hokkien-based Singlish expression, "lau yah" -- literally "old coconut" -- to mean something useless or lousy, such as something purchased that did not live up to its promise ie, a lemon! (For emphasis, we can say "lau yah pok!")

So, of the two "young coconuts" we bought, the flesh of one of them was hard and impossible to scoop out. Lau yah! It was just as well, since it's mostly fat.

* Did you know that the coconut is a seed, not a fruit or a nut? Here are five claimed facts about the coconut:

http://myfivebest.com/five-interesting-facts-about-coconuts/