Shredded coconut consists of thin pieces of coconut, usually sold in dried form. Cooks use shredded coconut in a vast number of recipes. It can easily be a topping of simple sandwiches like peanut butter and honey, it can be added to baked goods to add taste or it can lend extra flavour to savoury foods like curries and other Asian dishes. Certain cookies and candies could not be made without this ingredient.
Coconut is a large palm, growing to 30m tall. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit. Botanically the coconut fruit is a drupe, not a true nut. A drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a pit of hardened endocarp with a seed inside.
Coconuts sold in the shops of non-tropical countries often have their husk removed. Thus the coconut as you know it in non-tropical countries is the seed of the coconut fruit. The white flesh and water are the insides of the seed.
Coconuts are called the “Tree of Life”, since every bit of the coconut is used and can produce drink, food, utensils, musical instruments, and much more.
Use coconuts in baking, salads, granola, and in all your coconut cooking.