Ingredient

Creamed Coconut

Cocos nucifera

Creamed coconut is an oil-rich paste that smells like a big hug or holidays on a perfect beach. Soothing, moisturising, it also conditions hair and skin.

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is thought to be native to the warm climates of Polynesia, Malaysia, and southern Asia. The trees bloom and bear fruit throughout the year, growing a new flower spike nearly every month. This then becomes a cluster of six to twelve nuts. The nuts are the largest seed known to the world and can take up to a year to fully mature. When coconuts are young their flesh is soft like a melon. 'Kalpa vrishka,' the Sanskrit name for the coconut, means 'tree which gives all that is necessary for living.'

Creamed coconut is the ripe flesh of the nut, ground, dehydrated and compressed. Not to be confused with coconut cream, which is the first press of the flesh, this white lipid, and mineral-rich material can be grated to obtain desiccated coconut.