When I first opened a coconut with a machete and nearly spilled all the water on the ground, I frantically tried to save at least the last few drops remaining in the half shell I held in my hand. Today, I know that it was no loss. Because a coconuts intended to quench thirst is opened in a completely different way.

As I mentioned before, the water of a mature coconut is not the one for drinking. Of course, you can drink it and many people do. But once you taste the divine nectar hidden inside the green coconuts, you won’t want to drink anything else.

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Niu, popo, and o’o. Do these three words mean anything to you? Don’t worry, I had no clue what does it mean either until recently, and I simply referred to everything as a coconut. But I’ve become an expert on coconuts. During my staying in Samoa, I gathered over ten thousand of them with my own hands. I can now distinguish, by the sound of the splashing water inside, whether a coconut is spoiled, good, or about to become o’o.

Niu

Niu, also known as the green coconut or the one for drinking. Its green or sometimes yellowish husk signifies its immaturity. And to obtain it, you’ll have to exert more effort than just bending your back and picking it up from the ground. To quench your thirst with the sweet fluid hidden inside,  you must undergo years of rigorous training. Climbing palm trees is no joke and your risk your life daily for a meagre pay or the satisfaction of quenching your thirst.

From personal experience, I can tell you it’s no joke, and as I often say to both Samoans and non-Samoans, “climbing is the only thing I haven’t learned yet when it comes to coconuts.” If you’re as inept as I am or simply lazy, for the equivalent of 1 or 2NZD, you can buy a niu at the local market or wherever they happen to be selling them by the roadside.

The flesh of a green coconut is not hard and has a gelatinous consistency. It has a less pronounced taste, but it’s worth scooping it out with a spoon. A medium-sized coconut, the one for 1NZD, contains over half a litre of liquid. This liquid contains vitamins C and B, proteins, potassium, and is completely sterile. It is used for digestive problems. To enhance brain function. Promote blood circulation, regulate blood pressure, and improve heart function.

After a wild night, it helps with hangovers, and its composition is similar to mother’s milk. Unfortunately, it’s more challenging to obtain in the Czech Republic, and it’s not a cost-effective option either. In that case, we have no choice but to stick with the mother’s breast.

Popo

Here we have the well-known brown coconut, commonly available on the shelves of our supermarkets. This coconut serves the purpose of obtaining copra – the white flesh inside. From this flesh, coconut cream is produced, from which, if desired, one can extract coconut oil. The juiced flesh is then dried and finds its way into households as shredded coconut.

If you want to enjoy the fresh white flesh without the hassle of painstakingly scraping it out, it can be easily scooped out with a knife. For your safety, I recommend using a table knife.

Now, if you are a true connoisseur and wish to replace store-bought coconut cream with your own homemade version, you will need strong nerves and perseverance when learning new skills. Specifically, you will need to master the art of husking, finding the right rhythm for scraping out the flesh, and subsequently extracting the juice through a special sieve called a kaunga.

Check out how to scrape popo!

Back in the Czech Republic, you don’t have to worry about peeling the husks, but you’ll need to make your own scraper. You can use a piece of a curtain, which actually works even better than a sieve made from the fibers of a special banana tree species. In any case, the result is worth it. With three medium-sized coconuts, you can obtain more than a can of coconut cream. And if you replace the store-bought cream with your homemade version in your cooking, you’ll create a completely different flavor experience.

The white flesh is composed of 60% fat, 20% carbohydrates, 8% protein, and 6% water. The cavity inside is filled with coconut water. Unlike the green coconut, there is not as much coconut water, and its taste is not as good. The white flesh is used in the production of desiccated coconut, coconut flour, coconut oil, cream, or milk, which is a diluted form of coconut cream. Or you can simply savor it on its own, which will bring a brighter smile to your face as a bonus.

O’o

We have now explored first two phases of the coconut. From the green coconut, hanging on the tree like giant testicles – niu, to the lifeless one lying on the ground – popo. As the coconut is, in fact, a coconut seed not a nut, the popo eventually starts to naturally sprout and fills the coconut’s cavity with a foamy substance known as o’o.

Once the fruit reaches a sufficient size, it consumes the liquid inside and fills all the remaining space. It then starts consuming the white flesh until none is left. The coconut sprouts through the “mouth” of the coconut shell and the first leaves appear, giving rise to a new palm. Every Samoan man should plant at least one coconut. I have already accounted for seven.

Young o’o is usually fed to pigs since they still have plenty of white flesh, although it is no longer suitable for making coconut cream. As a bonus, there is a fruit the size of an apple hidden inside. It is, of course, edible and a nutrient-packed delicacy. Too old o’o has practically no use. Despite its relatively large size, farmers usually have no interest in it because it doesn’t contain any additional flesh.

The coconut palm – the tree of life.

For many nations, the coconut is considered the tree of life. In addition to its use as food and drink, the coconut palm provides wood for making canoes or building houses. Its leaves can be used to cover roofs or make blinds. Excellent “charcoal” can be produced from coconut shells, and even utensils can be crafted from them. The processed fibers of the coconut husk can be twisted into a highly durable rope known as sennit in these parts of the world. As the Polynesian nations did not have access to iron until the arrival of Europeans, and therefore lacked nails, their structures were held together with sennit.

In Portuguese, “coco” means a smiling face, and it is thanks to Portuguese sailors that the coconut gets its name. In English, they simply add the suffix “nut,” hence why the world’s largest seed is called a coconut.

It is estimated that the coconut is a cultivar over 37 million years old. We can find it in various corners of the world, but its original homeland is the area around India. The coconut can float in the sea for up to a hundred days without sprouting, and without human intervention, it would only grow on coastal areas.

• Falling coconuts, on average, claim up to one hundred and fifty lives each year.
• Coconut oil can be used to make diesel fuel.
• From the sap of an unopened coconut flower, we can produce a natural sweetener of a brownish colour, which can be distilled into coconut vodka.
• During World War II in the Pacific, the water from young coconuts was used as a substitute for blood plasma.
• In some countries, specially trained monkeys are used to dislodge ripe coconuts from palm trees. They are so proficient at it that in a single day, they can drop up to ten times more nuts than an average gatherer.
• The smoke from burning coconut husks serves as a natural repellent.
• There are over a hundred different varieties of coconut palm.
• The coconut palm has both male and female inflorescences, but it cannot self-pollinate.
• Coconut grenades were used by the Japanese soldiers during World War II. The coconut cavity was filled with explosives and shrapnel and then thrown at the enemy.
• Coconut water is one of the best natural conductors of electricity found in the wild.

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