Premasiri
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Greetings from Sri Lanka
The Coconut Plucker
An unsung hero of Sri Lanka is the coconut plucker. He makes it possible for Sri Lankans to enjoy traditional village recipes and for local industries – the making of coconut oil and coir rope – to continue.
The coconut plucker is a hero because of what he does: climbs up the slender trunks of coconut palm trees without support to pluck nuts from the crown of the tree.
I have coconut palms growing in my garden on the west coast of Sri Lanka. Every few weeks, when he knows the nuts are ready for plucking, the plucker arrives. He carries a broad-bladed knife, to cut branches, and a piece of cloth as his work tools.
He wraps the cloth around his ankles, binding his feet together to create a sling to give him leverage as he climbs, using his arms to pull himself upwards. His strength, agility, confidence . and skill are remarkable as he shins swiftly up the tree. Some of my palms are at least 60 feet tall, but that doesn’t deter the plucker.
At the top of the tree, he has to cling on with one hand while loosening the nuts with the other, fighting off the insects he disturbs. The nuts plummet to the ground where they are collected into a heap, counted, and sold to the plucker’s buyer who comes in a truck to collect them.
After he descends, the plucker makes a ribbon cut from a coconut branch and ties it around the trunk to signify he has harvested its nuts.
The uses of coconuts are many. The outer husk of the shell is cut away and soaked for a few weeks, usually in a river, to make it pliable as coir, the fibre that is used for making mats, and when spun, to make rope.
The flesh is dug out of the shell, chopped and dried in the sun to be ground and milled for its oil. The shell itself when cut in half and cleaned, can serve as a cup or scoop.
Village cooks grate the flesh and soak it in water to provide the essence of a good Sri Lankan curry. If you want to use coconut that way when you’re cooking curry at home, you don’t need to pack coconuts in your luggage to take back with you. You can buy packets of coconut flesh processed as a powder in Sri Lankan supermarkets.
It’s a treat that’s only available thanks to the heroes who risk their lives by harvesting the coconuts, and saving people’s lives too, by plucking the ripe nuts before they fall and crack open the skull of a passer-by!
Happy holiday.
Royston Ellis
Editorial Consultant
Sri Lanka Holiday Guru.
The Coconut Plucker
An unsung hero of Sri Lanka is the coconut plucker. He makes it possible for Sri Lankans to enjoy traditional village recipes and for local industries – the making of coconut oil and coir rope – to continue.
The coconut plucker is a hero because of what he does: climbs up the slender trunks of coconut palm trees without support to pluck nuts from the crown of the tree.
I have coconut palms growing in my garden on the west coast of Sri Lanka. Every few weeks, when he knows the nuts are ready for plucking, the plucker arrives. He carries a broad-bladed knife, to cut branches, and a piece of cloth as his work tools.
He wraps the cloth around his ankles, binding his feet together to create a sling to give him leverage as he climbs, using his arms to pull himself upwards. His strength, agility, confidence . and skill are remarkable as he shins swiftly up the tree. Some of my palms are at least 60 feet tall, but that doesn’t deter the plucker.
At the top of the tree, he has to cling on with one hand while loosening the nuts with the other, fighting off the insects he disturbs. The nuts plummet to the ground where they are collected into a heap, counted, and sold to the plucker’s buyer who comes in a truck to collect them.
After he descends, the plucker makes a ribbon cut from a coconut branch and ties it around the trunk to signify he has harvested its nuts.
The uses of coconuts are many. The outer husk of the shell is cut away and soaked for a few weeks, usually in a river, to make it pliable as coir, the fibre that is used for making mats, and when spun, to make rope.
The flesh is dug out of the shell, chopped and dried in the sun to be ground and milled for its oil. The shell itself when cut in half and cleaned, can serve as a cup or scoop.
Village cooks grate the flesh and soak it in water to provide the essence of a good Sri Lankan curry. If you want to use coconut that way when you’re cooking curry at home, you don’t need to pack coconuts in your luggage to take back with you. You can buy packets of coconut flesh processed as a powder in Sri Lankan supermarkets.
It’s a treat that’s only available thanks to the heroes who risk their lives by harvesting the coconuts, and saving people’s lives too, by plucking the ripe nuts before they fall and crack open the skull of a passer-by!
Happy holiday.
Royston Ellis
Editorial Consultant
Sri Lanka Holiday Guru.