Coocoo for Coconut
Coconut was one of those amazing discovers by the European explorers who found it all over south Asia. In India, where they probably first found it, they heard the Tamil word, ‘tenga’, but gave it a Latin name, nux indica, or Indian nut. Although it is not a nut at all, but rather in the palm family, the word ‘nut’ stuck.
Then the Spanish, thinking it looked like a human head, called it a ‘coco’ which means ‘head’. Then the marriage of the Spanish and Latin word occurred and we have ‘coco-nut’. One of my favorite cakes is a coconut cream cake – just delish!
