Saturated Fat
Not all vegetable oil belong to the virtuous poly- and mono- saturated fat club. Coconut oil is over 90 percent saturated fat. But it is a remarkable fat, nonetheless. I often forget, in these temperate climes I currently live in - quite how much heat we manufacture, we radiate. Zipping yourself up in one of those white disposable boiler suits, as I did for this years Department Pantomime, is one way of reminding yourself of this. Another way is to hold a chunk of coconut fat in your fingers and watch it melt away. It melts at 20-25°C - and is one of the worlds few solids that will melt in your hand. Cheaper than Gallium, less of a health hazard than Caesium.
It's used extensively in cooking in South India - I can almost smell the memory of the thick singed tang that hangs in the air after dusk after the street-food vendors emerge.
Even better when blended with that other body-temperature-melting-point fat: cocoa butter. And this is what I spent Sunday afternoon doing - blending dark chocolate with coconut oil and various choice flavourings. In an attempt to recreate the fabulous truffles that the people over at www.boojabooja.com make.
I can report back that these experiments were partially successful - the resulting truffles did melt in the mouth in a satisfactory (or do I mean olfactory?) way. But they weren't quite the same silky smoothness as the ones booja-booja craft. There's only one thing for it - an intensive programme of experimental truffle making. All I need now, is a research grant..
It's used extensively in cooking in South India - I can almost smell the memory of the thick singed tang that hangs in the air after dusk after the street-food vendors emerge.
Even better when blended with that other body-temperature-melting-point fat: cocoa butter. And this is what I spent Sunday afternoon doing - blending dark chocolate with coconut oil and various choice flavourings. In an attempt to recreate the fabulous truffles that the people over at www.boojabooja.com make.
I can report back that these experiments were partially successful - the resulting truffles did melt in the mouth in a satisfactory (or do I mean olfactory?) way. But they weren't quite the same silky smoothness as the ones booja-booja craft. There's only one thing for it - an intensive programme of experimental truffle making. All I need now, is a research grant..