COCOANUTS AS FOOD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1445, 31 December 1886, Page 2

COCOANUTS AS FOOD.

There is reason to beiieye that the usefulness of the ccc an at. it not quite recognised to its full extent, except at lea-t by thosU urchins who are to be seen chewing scraps of them at any tims in the London streets. What particular attraction the f nit has for these customers it might be difficult to say, for to the adult palate the taste of a London cocoa? nut is, to say the very )esit of It, insipid. But if the learned in chemical and gastronomic science are to be believed, the liule rascals, by their chance meals so taken, do at hast awe their patents a g..cd deal in the shape of other aliment, ft is the opinion of sages who ought to know, that there is an extraordinary amount of sustenance in the flesh of the coconnut, and their word has been supported lately by a rather striking incident. A Java paper declares that a vessel sailing from Fiji to Sydney with a cargo of these nu’s, was eighty days on the road, being s'opped by contrary winds; and that during the whole time ihe crew lived upon nothing else, ea :h msn taking one of the fruits per diem as his rations. The result, rs announced by this paper, was that the men all arrived in a state of fitness previously unknown. In the meantime, ► xpe iments have been made fcy the French military authorities in feeding horses upon this frnit, snd the result la said to have been very satisfactory. The food is given in the shape of meal, and is said to effect a considerable saving In e-ch horse’s keep. ‘The Fnglhh housewife is best acquainted with cccoanut meal in the form of c arse grindings uwd in the composition of c*ke; and ibis both far cheaper and more tb>P fid when wed ia afejufi’ 3 ”