The coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm, a plant of major economic and culinary importance across the tropics, valued for its water, flesh, oil and milk. Its exact center of domestication is genuinely disputed among botanists: the traditional view holds a single Indo-Pacific origin later spread by Austronesian seafaring peoples, while genetic research published in the early twenty-first century has proposed two largely independent centers of domestication, one in the Pacific basin and one in the Indian Ocean basin, a hypothesis that remains contested. Regardless of its exact origin point, coconut became a foundational ingredient in the cuisines of maritime Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Pacific islands, prized both for its versatility and its long shelf life as dried copra. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Disputed
Origin RegionIndo-Pacific, with a contested dual-origin hypothesis proposing independent domestication in the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins 1 Sourced to the subject's own accountBotanists disagree on whether the coconut was domesticated once, in the Indo-Pacific, or twice, independently in the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins; genetic evidence has been read both ways since the early 2000s. See the linked open question. Coconut
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Associated With
Open Questions
Source Coconut (Wikipedia)
Used By
Source Chicken Chettinad (Wikipedia)
Source Dadar gulung (Wikipedia)
Coconut milk is central to many Filipino dishes.
Source Coconut (Wikipedia)
Source Hawaiian Cuisine (Wikipedia)
Source Klappertaart (Wikipedia)
Source Kuku paka (Wikipedia)
Source Lupis (food) (Wikipedia)
Source Patoleo (Wikipedia)
Source Putu piring (Wikipedia)
Source Quindim (Wikipedia)
Source Larousse Gastronomique
Source Tamil Cuisine (Wikipedia)
Thai Cuisine, Cuisines Coconut milk is a base of Thai curries.
Source Coconut (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Coconut (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
The coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus Cocos.
- Used By: Filipino Cuisine
- Used By: Thai Cuisine
View the Source Wikidata: Coconut
Wikidata Q3342808, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009Used By: Sri Lankan Cuisine, entry: Coconut
Chicken Chettinad (Wikipedia)
Used By: Chicken Chettinad, Infobox main_ingredient field: Chicken, kalpasi, yogurt, cream, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, black pepper, coconutView the Source Avial (Wikipedia)
Used By: Avial, Infobox main_ingredient field: Vegetables, Coconut, CurdView the Source Cocada (Wikipedia)
Used By: Cocada, Infobox main_ingredient field: Eggs, shredded coconut, food coloring, sugar, brown sugar, coconut milk, condensed milk, fruit syrupView the Source Serabi (Wikipedia)
Used By: Serabi, Infobox main_ingredient field: Rice flour, coconut milk or shredded coconutView the Source Gethuk (Wikipedia)
Used By: Gethuk, Infobox main_ingredient field: Cassava, coconut, sugarView the Source Meghli (Wikipedia)
Used By: Meghli, Infobox main_ingredient field: Rice flour, sugar, anise, caraway, cinnamon, coconut, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, walnutsView the Source Klepon (Wikipedia)
Used By: Klepon, Infobox main_ingredient field: Rice cake, palm sugar, grated coconutView the Source Urap (Wikipedia)
Used By: Urap, Infobox main_ingredient field: Steamed vegetable salad, shredded coconut dressingView the Source Lupis (food) (Wikipedia)
Used By: Lupis (food), Infobox main_ingredient field: Glutinous rice, coconut, palm sugar syrupView the Source Quindim (Wikipedia)
Used By: Quindim, Infobox main_ingredient field: Ground coconut, sugar, egg yolksView the Source Thoran (Wikipedia)
Used By: Thoran, Infobox main_ingredient field: Vegetables, CoconutView the Source Putu piring (Wikipedia)
Used By: Putu Piring, Infobox food/dish main_ingredient fieldView the Source Kuku paka (Wikipedia)
Used By: Kuku paka, lead paragraphQuote, Used By: Kuku paka, lead paragraph
Kuku paka is a chicken dish with a coconut-based curry and is also called kuku na nazi.
Patoleo (Wikipedia)
Used By: Patoleo, lead paragraphQuote, Used By: Patoleo, lead paragraph
The main stuffing is made from freshly shredded coconut, rice flour paste, and palm jaggery; and cooked by wrapping and steaming in turmeric leaves.
Dadar gulung (Wikipedia)
Used By: Dadar gulung, lead paragraphQuote, Used By: Dadar gulung, lead paragraph
Dadar gulung (lit. 'rolled pancake/omelette"') is a popular traditional kue (traditional snack) of sweet coconut pancake.
Klappertaart (Wikipedia)
Used By: Klappertaart, lead paragraphQuote, Used By: Klappertaart, lead paragraph
Klappertaart is "coconut cake" or "coconut tart" and it is made from flour, sugar, milk, butter, and the flesh and juice of coconuts.
Hawaiian Cuisine (Wikipedia)
Used By: Hawaiian Cuisine, Wikipedia article textQuote, Used By: Hawaiian Cuisine, Wikipedia article text
As Native Hawaiians settled the area, they fished, raised taro for poi, planted coconuts, sugarcane, sweet potatoes and yams, and cooked meat and fish in earth ovens.
Tamil Cuisine (Wikipedia)
Used By: Tamil Cuisine, Wikipedia article textQuote, Used By: Tamil Cuisine, Wikipedia article text
Poriyal (Tamil: பொரியல்) is usually a dry stir-fried vegetable(s) with spices and grated coconut.
Open Questions (1 open question)
Was the coconut domesticated once, in the Indo-Pacific, or independently twice, in the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins?
Genetic studies published in the early twenty-first century found two genetically distinct coconut populations and proposed two independent domestication events; other researchers read the same and later genomic data as consistent with a single origin later dispersed by Austronesian voyaging, and the debate has not settled.
What would resolve this A broader, better-sampled ancient-DNA study across Indian Ocean and Pacific coconut populations, dated against the archaeological record of Austronesian and Indian Ocean seafaring, would let botanists distinguish shared ancestry from independent domestication.
Botany and archaeobotanyCoconut (Wikipedia)
Dissenting Readings (2 dissenting readings)
Origin Region
Some botanists hold that the coconut was domesticated once, in the Indo-Pacific region, and that Austronesian seafaring peoples carried it west to the Indian Ocean basin over the course of their historic voyaging, accounting for the genetic split without requiring a second, independent domestication.
A dissenting reading, from Single-origin dispersal hypothesisCoconut (Wikipedia), Wikipedia
Origin Region
Genetic research published in the early twenty-first century found two genetically distinct coconut populations, Pacific and Indian Ocean, and proposed that these represent two largely independent domestication events rather than one origin later spread by human voyaging.
A dissenting reading, from Dual-origin domestication hypothesisCoconut (Wikipedia), Wikipedia
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