Tropical coconut is found in South America, Southeast Asia, India, and the Pacific Islands. It is not a nut but the brown seed of a tropical palm. Popular in cookies and cakes, it is available flaked or shredded, year round. Canned coconut milk is used in many Asian recipes, especially in curries. Cream of coconut is a sweetened product and used mostly for dessert or cocktails. To open a coconut, hold it over a bowl in one hand so that the tip is at on one end and the eyes on the other. Whack the coconut with the blunt side of a very heavy knife or cleaver a few times all around the center until it cracks open into two nearly equal halves. Catch the juice in the bowl as it drains from the cracks.
