Nata de coco

Nata de coco, also sold as coconut gel, is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food made by fermenting coconut water. A bacterium, Komagataeibacter xylinus, grows in the liquid and spins a mat of microbial cellulose that sets into a firm gel, which is lifted off, cut into pieces, washed to remove acetic acid and packed in syrup or jars. The Filipino chemist Teódula Kalaw África developed it in 1949 while working for the National Coconut Corporation, as a year-round alternative to nata de piña, the pineapple-fibre gel that depended on seasonal harvests, and commercial production began in 1954. The name is Spanish for cream of coconut. It is usually sweetened and eaten as a dessert or candy, and it turns up in fruit cocktails, halo-halo, ice cream, puddings, soft drinks and bubble tea. It is high in dietary fibre and low in fat, and versions made with konjac fibre are lower in calories still.