The Mighty Coconut!

The first Hawaiians used many things that grew around them to help them in their day to day living. Today I thought I’d talk a little about the mighty coconut.

Now, if you’re like me you just love coconut. Many favorite recipes from Hawaii use coconut. (check out my Bibingka recipe, a Filipino desert recipe.) Later this year I’ll try my hand at Haupia, another Hawaiian desert made with coconut—very popular!

How did the early Hawaiians make use of coconuts?

They ate the meat and drank the milk. The shell was used at containers. They also made use of the leaves in building shelters. The husk was used for braiding sennit. I’m not sure what they used the braids for, but my guess would be for rope and ties.

I had to look up “braiding sennit” to see what exactly it meant. Here’s a link to a site all about sennit.

http://books.google.com/books?id=QlDj7-OmTGAC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=sennit+braid&source=bl&ots=584j7-2n1L&sig=OxJFBgfZaRXzyHvJF4rXqYSJ9ZI&hl=en&ei=z_IHTZvuI8L58Ab0t-jPCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=sennit%20braid&f=false

If you’re ever in a situation where you need to survive, I hope you have some coconuts around. The husk also makes a great “fire starter.”

Those coconuts sure are mighty, huh??

Mahalo!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com