This post is dedicated to the General who has asked for some cycling food stories or at least a post about beer or wine - this is as close as it's going to get, General!
Times have changed in Brazil.
Once upon a time, if you wanted Agua de Coco - Coconut Water - you went to the beach or a roadside stall, picked your green coconut from a big esky of really really cold coconuts, the man used his huge machete to cut off the top, they wacked a straw in the top - then you walked away sipping your Agua de Coco.
Not so now.
I saw this little stall set up in the parking lot of a huge shop, sort of like a Campbells Cash & Carry, and here was this woman with her two gadgets. The one you see in the top pic above, would puncture a hole in the top of the coconut (machete no longer required, which in my book takes away a little of the drama really), then she lies the punctured coconut upside down on another machine - sort of like a beer keg (second pic). Here the coconut water runs through a spiral of chilled tubing and pours out the bottom into a cup - all very civilised. You walk away to do your shopping with her very delicate cup of Agua de Coco.
And get this - you can even choose if you want 300ml, 350ml, or 400ml!!!! Crikey!
Now I myself am not a big fan of Agua de Coco, in fact I really don't like it! It sort of tastes like off water to me. But the locals swear by it - they seem to think it is the best way to "matar sede" (kill their thirst)!
I have to say, though, it's not the same seeing someone walking around with a clear plastic cup of opaque liquid. I preferred the old days when it was an exotic site of people walking around with a giant green coconut in their hand, with a straw sticking out the top!
Yes, things certainly have changed in Brazil.
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