'It's a coconut', my father explained. 'Instead of a birthday cake, you get to have something different!'
Right. So instead of getting a delicious vanilla cake frosted with cool whip and decorated with strawberries and kiwis (the only cake my grandma has ever been known to make, and so she makes it very, very well) I was getting ... a coconut?
I thanked my dad, still baffled, and told him that I didn't know how to open it. I guess this was something my overly enthusiastic father had failed to consider. We all stared at it, puzzled - me, my dad, and my best friend Kim. Thus began the night's labor of opening the most bizarre birthday cake I've ever received.
First we tried scraping open a hole with a paring knife. It failed to make a dent. Then we tried smashing it against the kitchen counter, again, to no effect. We soaked it in water, thinking maybe it would soften the outer shell. Nothing. Finally, my dad took matters into his own hands and retreated into the garage with the coconut. We could hear sounds of heavy machinery being used. A few minutes later my father triumphantly emerged with a freshly drilled hole in the coconut. He emptied the contents, which amounted to half a glass of cloudy coconut milk, and gave it to me, 'Happy birthday!'
I was less than amused, but Kim was highly entertained by the entire process. 'Your family is so random,' she said. Sigh... this is true.
Since that day, I've always been a bit wary of coconuts. That is, until I came to the Cook Islands. Since then, I've discovered the taste of freshly opened coconuts, and I can't get enough. This week I finally learned to crack the coconut. It's amazingly simple.
Step 1: Husking the coconut. The husk is the big green or brown shell encasing the coconut and takes some effort to remove. Most people pry it off using a traditional metal pole with a pointed tip to get it under husk.
Step 2: Cracking the coconut. This part is the most fun. See that red line I've drawn around the middle? You have to strike that imaginary line with a blunt object while rotating it to get the weak points. Eventually a crack will show and you can pry it open. A professional can do this with just three strokes and under 2 seconds. I'm working on it.
Step 3: Enjoy the coconut!
I can't get enough of Henry Nilsson this week. I wish I grew up in an era where songs like these made Billboard Top 100.
Click here to listen to 'Henry Nilsson - Coconut'
