On 30/01/2008, Pandu Lampiao <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Senor Fred. > My knowledge of oils is limited as well but recently while at Colombo > airport, I heard on local radio about what oils one should use in > different weather conditions and their properties as hot and cold > oils: olive and coconut are cold oils while sesame is considered warm > oil. I missed the latter part of the program. Apparently coconut oil > is 90% saturated fat which likely explains why it turns to buttery > paste and is considered unhealthy for consumption in large quantities > (so is coconut). > One possibility is the extraction process: sesame seeds are roasted > before the oil is extracted while coconut oil as we know it is > commonly known as coconut butter. > You should come visit warm and sunny Sawantwadi sometime.
Irmao Pandu, welcome back (though I can't say this officially!) I do travel to Sawantwadi occasionally, as you know, based on 'desi' technology (the Rs 36K Bajaj 100cc, very fuel-efficient) but that place is probably colder than Goa now, because Mumbai, further north, was reporting 10 degrees C minimum temperatures and shocking everyone. Extreme climates and weather change, here we come! As far as coconut goes, the jury is out on how bad/good it is. There's a big debate in Asia, contesting Western claims that the oil is a killer. Here's what I posted to the SolutionsExchange mailing list in Delhi recently. Based on what I could pick up from the Net: [PS: The editor added the "Hindus" and ghee bit. Maybe from some other site. AFAIK, we all ate ghee in our younger days, though not of the coconut kind.] Coconut is one of the ten most useful trees in the world, providing food for millions of people, especially in the tropics. At any one time a coconut palm has 12 different crops of nuts on it, from opening flower to ripe nut. At the top of the tree is the growing point, a bundle of tightly packed, yellow-white, cabbage-like leaves, which, if damaged, causes entire tree to die, but if tree can be spared, this heart makes a tasty treat, a 'millionaire's salad'. Unopened flowers are protected by sheath, often used to fashion shoes, caps, even a kind of pressed helmet for soldiers. Opened flowers provide a good honey for bees. A clump of unopened flowers may be bound tightly together, bent over and its tip bruised. Nut has a husk, which is a mass of packed fibers called coir, which can be woven into strong twine or rope, and is used for padding mattresses, upholstery and life-preservers. Fiber resistant to sea water and is used for cables and rigging on ships, for making mats, rugs, bags, brooms, brushes, and olive oil filters in Italy and Greece; also used for fires and mosquito smudges. If nut is allowed to germinate, cavity fills with a spongy mass called 'bread' which is eaten raw or toasted in shell over fire. Sprouting seeds may be eaten like celery. Shell is hard and fine-grained, and may be carved into all kinds of objects, as drinking cups, dippers, scoops, smoking pipe bowls, and collecting cups for rubber latex. Charcoal used for cooking fires, air filters, in gas masks, submarines, and cigarette tips. Coconut water is produced by a 5 month old nut, about 2 cups of crystal clear, cool sweet (invert sugars and sucrose) liquid, so pure and sterile that during World War II, it was used in emergencies instead of sterile glucose solution, and put directly into a patient's veins. Also contains growth substances, minerals, and vitamins. Boiled toddy, known as jaggery, with lime makes a good cement. In India, the Hindus make a vegetarian butter called 'ghee' from coconut oil; also used in infant formulas. When copra is heated, the clear oil separates out easily, and is made this way for home use in producing countries. Just a few online links which might offer pointers. It's interesting to see how these products are packaged online: Coconut Research Centre, Colorado US http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/ The purpose of this website is to dispel the myths surrounding coconut and palm products and to present a more accurate and scientific viewpoint. See the books page: http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/books.htm Coconut Vinegar http://www.thepowermall.com/thecenterforhealth/healthy_food/coconut.htm This coconut vinegar is made from coconut sap. Coconut sap is similar to fresh coconut water and contains a variety of minerals and vitamins. Coconutinfo.com http://www.coconut-info.com/ The purpose of this site is to provide information on the health benefits of coconut products, particularly coconut oil. The coconut palm http://www.dipbot.unict.it/Palms/Descr01.html The widest-grown palm in the world, coconuts feature as one of the main sources of income for producing countries, in that a large number of different products utilised and appreciated in the western countries as well are made out of them. I came across this book, published in the Konkani language in Goa that talks about the coconut, how to plant and take care of it, and related issues. Chapter 13 talks about the coconut plant and its uses. It mostly focuses on handicrafts out of the coconut, of its husk, shell and other parts. The book is by Nevil Alphonso, Baga, Cotombi, Taluka Quepem, PO Chandor Goa. 2006. Rs 50. In Goa, even the use of plucking-devices (to climb the tall trees more easily) is unfortunately not yet widespread. -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 The Goa books blog: http://goabooks.wordpress.com Goa1556 (alt.publishing.goa): http://goa1556.goa-india.org
