These continue to be made, of course. The prized Triple Coconut Cream Pie served at Dahlia Lounge and the deservedly popular coconut cake baked by 60th Street Desserts in Wedgwood are just two worthy examples.

But now coconut is being used in appetizers and main dishes. Home cooks are making Thai food, where coconut milk conveys the herb-and-spice mixture in curries and dilutes their heat. Restaurant chefs are creating fusion dishes in which coconut milk is a chief ingredient.

Even so, the coconut remains something of an enigma in this country. Perhaps it's because coconut is both a foreign ingredient and a tough nut to crack. The hairy, brown coconuts you see at the supermarket do not look that way when they come off the tree. Instead, they are encased in a fibrous husk several inches thick, plus a glossy outer covering. Both have to be removed, and the task is laborious. Then comes the challenge of getting through that hairy, hard shell. I've heard of many methods for doing this, ranging from banging the shell on the floor to hammering a screwdriver into it. The most elegant method I have seen was performed in a Hindu temple by a priest, who hit one coconut with another, expertly dividing the first into neat halves.

Serves 4 to 6 This quick-and-easy dessert is adapted from a Thai sweet whose name translates as "bananas ordained as nuns."
2 cups fresh or one 19-ounce can coconut milk 1/2 cup coconut or palm sugar* 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 large or 4 medium underripe bananas Unsweetened dried coconut flakes or coarsely chopped macadamia nuts for garnish (optional) 1. Combine the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until dissolved, being careful not to let the coconut milk boil. 2. Peel and halve the bananas and cut into pieces 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. 3. Add bananas to coconut mixture and cook 3 to 6 minutes, again being careful not to let the mixture boil. 4. Serve warm or at room temperature in cold weather or chilled during warm weather, garnished with coconut flakes or chopped macadamia nuts. * You can substitute with honey or sugar, but use less. Cook's Note: A little rum or brandy may be used to spike the dessert. Unfortunately not even alcohol will help preserve it; it has to be eaten within a few hours of making. Print friendly version.

In tropical South Asia, where coconut is an essential ingredient, cooks often hold the shell over a bowl and smack it at the equator with the back of a cleaver. When the coconut splits, the transparent, slightly cloudy liquid inside flows into the bowl. This coconut water (not to be confused with coconut milk) is drunk as a refreshing beverage with healthful properties. The opened coconut now reveals gleaming, white meat about half an inch thick. Coconut milk is made from this meat. (I once read that missionaries translating the Bible in a Pacific island found in the coconut meat's pristine color the perfect equivalent for the color of snow, which the islanders had never seen. "Though your sins may be as red as scarlet," went the new translation, "they shall be made as white as the meat of the coconut.")

To produce coconut milk, the meat is grated into flakes by using either a hand- or machine-operated gadget. The rest is easy. Cover the flakes with warm water and soak; then squeeze them by handfuls over a strainer that filters the opaque white milk into a container. This is usually done twice to obtain two types of milk: a thicker, creamier first milk (sometimes called coconut cream) and a thinner, more dilute second milk.

In addition to thickening curries and soups, coconut milk is used much like dairy cream and milk is used in the West. For instance, in Thailand, coconut milk, eggs and palm sugar are made into a custard that is steamed inside the scooped cavity of a kabocha squash.

Considering the trouble it takes to extract coconut milk, you can understand why many are grateful for the convenience of buying it in a can. Not all canned milk is equal, though, and inferior brands or batches can be oily or watery. But several brands now better approximate the texture and taste of fresh coconut milk. After tasting most of the brands on the Seattle market, I decided that Savoy had the best taste, followed by Mae Ploy, then Mr. Coco, which contains no preservative.

In the process, I also discovered canned coconut sugar (Mae Ploy brand) at some supermarkets in the International District. Akin to maple sugar, coconut sugar has a delicate taste that integrates beautifully with coconut milk in Asian desserts. The canned coconut sugar retains its natural moisture and has a more refined taste than the more commonly available palm sugar, which is usually sold dried in packets.

Coconut oil, a third important derivative of coconut, is a mainstay in the kitchens of some tropical nations. In the United States, it is more commonly used in making toiletries and cosmetics. Colorless, odorless and inexpensive, it is unusual among vegetable oils for being a saturated fat. Coconut oil is commercially extracted from copra, the meat of more mature, drier coconuts.

Beyond milk, sugar and oil, the coconut and the tree provide a multitude of products — so many they've given rise to a saying in the South Seas: "He who plants a coconut tree plants food and drink, vessels and clothing, a habitation for himself and a heritage for his children." But that is another story.

Andrew A. Jayasundera is a publications specialist and freelance writer. His e-mail address is andrewjaya@hotmail.com. Barry Wong is a staff photographer for Pacific Northwest magazine.