Playa Parguito beach: coconuts.jpg
These coconuts on the counter in a refreshment stand along Playa Parguito beach are used to make a refreshing "agua de coco" drink -- you just drain the liquid from inside the coconut, chill it, and Listo! (Ready!) The Spanish words "agua de coco" mean "coconut water". Price for a cup in this restaurant was 2,500 bolivars (about $1; March 2006). Agua de coco is very nutritious and refreshing as it contains lots of minerals. It can be mildly sweet or have a hint of saltiness depending on the soil where the coconut palm was. English-speaking people sometimes call it "coconut milk", but that term is a little misleading. Agua de coco is the clear to whitish fluid from within a fresh coconut. It's more like water than like milk. The coconuts look a little different from the brown hairy ones you might have seen in a supermarket because these have the green skin still intact. The brown hairy coconut is actually inside the green skin. A machete is needed to 'whack' the coconut open.
|