THE GOODNESS OF COCONUT

Few foods have seen the spotlight in recent years as much as the coconut. Since lingering at the bottom of the fashionable fruit chart, the brown, hairy and difficult to crack contender has risen to the top, making up for what it lacks in looks by packing a nutritional punch. Hailed as one of the top superfoods of 2015, sales of coconut-based food have rocketed, its liquid form has even been referred to as an 'uniquely curative elixir' - indeed, the humble coconut is certainly having it's moment. Once confined to the filling of a Bounty bar, coconut now comes in an array of forms; Emily Jonzen arranges her book by texture and variety, with chapters divided into Milk & Water, Oil, Flour and Desiccated. Packed with an amazing range of recipes from savoury dishes such as Coconut-crusted Chicken or Stir-fried squid to sweet things such as Coconut Flour Pancakes and Coconut & Pistachio Brownies, Emily will have you going nuts over nature's finest and most versatile ingredient. The unassuming coconut is now taking its rightful place as the darling of the 'superfoods'.While they may not be much to look at, they are your best cooking companion - work these hairy wonder-fruits and reap the healthy benefits.