Not a nut — a hero
As a food, the coconut is as versatile as the palm tree that produces it. Inside its shell, the raw coconut water and meat are life-sustaining in jungle survival situations. Its edible content is also nutritious as a culinary
ingredient and the juice has a medical purpose as a diuretic.
Out of the coconut meat comes a variety of food products. Grated, it makes the kutsinta tasty.
When boiled, cream can be extracted and cooked into latik for topping or flavoring of rice cakes like biko, kalamay and maja blanca.
The cooked cream also turns into aromatic oil for greasing banana or coconut leaf wraps for suman and other kakanin. Of course, the coconut cream is also good for gatang
alimango or langka and ginataang halu-halo.
Grated coconut meat is the basic ingredient of buko salad and buko
pandan dessert. It can be cooked into a bukayo or tupeg.
When dried, coconut meat becomes copra from which oil is extracted for making cooking oil, margarine, soap, detergent, shampoo, synthetic rubber and glycerin. The residual coconut cake is used as livestock feed.
For non-food purposes, the coconut shell can be made into floor scrub or lampaso, charcoal, kitchen utensils and decoratives. The husk is a source of coir or coconut fiber for making ropes, doormats, brushes, mattresses and rip-raps.
If virgin coconut oil is scientifically proven to be effective in treating coronavirus infection, then this palm tree fruit will also serve as medicine and save lives.
Other uses of the coconut are being explored. Of late, its new purpose is for emergency response. Buko vendor Larry Lasac discovered it accidentally while selling coconut juice and meat in Binangonan, Rizal.
On 10 February, the 54-year-old Lasac was on the roadside of Manila East Road in Barangay Pantok with his bicycle car when a burning tricycle suddenly stopped near him. As the trike driver was frantically putting out the fire to save his tricycle, Lasac instinctively threw a pitcher of buko juice on the fire. He also emptied his bottle of water dousing the flame.
A bystander caught the unconventional firefighting technique on video and posted it on Facebook. Lasac’s selfless act in response to an emergency and to save another’s property impressed netizens. His courage and heroics went viral and even earned him a commendation and job offer from Binangonan Mayor Cesar Ynares.
The former farmer from Mindoro, who lost P500 worth of buko juice that fateful day, said he was not a hero and just made a normal response to a fire situation. Nevertheless, his buko hero tag is forever etched in the minds of netizens, firefighters included.