A couple days ago we had a Lovo which is basically a Fijian barbeque. We were all assigned different tasks and I had the pleasure of husking and scraping coconuts. I thought. “Oh, that doesn’t seem to bad” but I was super wrong. In order to husk a coconut, one must use a handy stick that is shoved into the ground.

The husking stick in the ground.

The coconut is then shoved into the stick and then pushed down to peel off some of the husk. Then you use the stick as a fulcrum to peel the rest of the husk off like a banana. As you peel you are fighting a hundred strands from the husk. Those steps are repeated until the entire husk is removed.

Removed coconut husks.

We had to husk about forty coconuts! After husking we had to open them by hitting the veins of the coconut with a blunt blade. When done right the coconut would open within a few strikes.

Flynn cutting open a coconut.

After the process of just opening the coconut we still had to shave and squeeze the coconut meat to get the coconut cream or cut the coconut from the husk to make coconut chips. I hope you appreciate all things coconut a little bit more because I sure do.

– Flynn