I have a tasting next week, with a Hawaiian theme. One of the desserts, I would like to garnish with strips of fresh coconut, coated in chocolate. I could use a peeler to cut the coconut, and then pour chocolate over the strips, but I'm looing for a bit more elegance. Hmmm...I just thought of a zester. I wonder if that would work??? Anyone have any related ideas?

By Chefrick (Chefrick) on Wednesday, September 06, 2000 - 10:58 pm: Edit

momoreg,
what if you took the peeler idea one step further? roll strips(as wide and as tight as possible)made roses,mums, or lillys,tinting white choc.with approprate colors for a tropical theme.

By vbean on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 03:46 am: Edit

Why is it not O.K. for a coconut to look like a coconut? Roses and mums are not tropical. Some lilys are tropical.
Fresh coconut is not easy to dip- it is very wet and continues to exude moisture after it is cut.
Polynesian cultures learned to deal with coconut in a few ways that are still utilized today.
Grating and then squeezing the flesh ( which would be later dried) is one way. The moisture derived from the flesh is the milk. drying the flesh is another way. This is used a lot for baking, granola etc...
I would be curious about the dessert. I spent over 15 years cooking (and baking) professionally there. I lived there too (and soon to return).

By momoreg on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 06:24 am: Edit

vbean,
I was wondering about the moisture factor. Maybe I can toast the strips beforehand. I think it may be more realistic to just dip the tips, since this is a party for 500.
Chefrick,
The flowers are a cute idea, but since you now know the count, you can probably see why I'd prefer to keep it simple.

By momoreg on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 06:26 am: Edit

Incidentally,
I wonder if the coconut would hold a flower shape long enough to toast it into that shape. That would look cool!

By Panini (Panini) on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 03:04 pm: Edit

I would do some playing around with grated meat semi dried. Maybe 20% florentine batter and dried meat, templete, dipped in choco.Maybe coconut tuile? Just some thoughts

By momoreg on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 09:40 pm: Edit

huh?

By Kaosfury (Kaosfury) on Friday, September 08, 2000 - 09:17 am: Edit

Panini, please excuse me, but what is florentine batter? Would this be a fried dish? Hmmm...fried coconut meat with a caramel and/or chocolate sauce...Sounds good. I think I might have to try doing that one.

Karl

By Panini (Panini) on Friday, September 08, 2000 - 01:01 pm: Edit

Whats da matta, yous guys dont speek inglish. You know lace cookies with roasted coco. Or maybe large roasted shaving tuiles done in patterns?
I did't understand myself either.Again hands are for speaking not typing!

By momoreg on Friday, September 08, 2000 - 07:33 pm: Edit

Panini,

I thought you meant actual MEAT! Well anyway, I finally figured out how I wanted to do it. Today I quartered a coconut, and put it on the deli slicer, cutting "C" shaped slices, about as thich as a Ruffles potato chip (thick). I dried it in a 250 oven for a few hours, then toasted it lightly. The tips will get dipped in chocolate, and I plan to use 3 as a garni for a frozen macadamia/honey souffle.

By Panini (Panini) on Saturday, September 09, 2000 - 01:00 pm: Edit

How does it taste? Sounds good. Salt?

By momoreg on Sunday, September 10, 2000 - 09:32 am: Edit

It was a little bit bland, but the texture was great. I was thinking of adding something for flavor, along with salt. Maybe I could dip them in a honey & sugar syrup, then sprinkle them lightly with kosher salt before drying.