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Death by Coconut: A Story of Food Obsession Gone Too Far

46 points by nkurz 11y ago

sokoloff 11y ago
The comments on the NPR story are amusing.
DiabloD3 11y ago
"He believed that since the coconut grew high up in the tree, closest to God and closest to the sun, it was godlike," says Kracht. "And since it had hair and looked like a human head, he thought it came closest to being a man. According to his rather crackpot theory, to be a cocovore was to be a theophage — or eater of God." Then apparently I like to fry steaks in a couple of spoonfuls of liquid God, and wash it down with the blood of Christ (ie, wine).
- nkozyra 11y ago
  Bold choice using a non-neutral oil for your steaks, how does it compare?
  - DiabloD3 11y ago
    I prefer it over using olive oil, but only for steaks, and I use pure coconut oil instead of refined, so I get a stronger coconut oil taste from it. For some reason, I find it makes beef taste better. Not sure why, I'm usually a purist when it comes to that sort of thing.
- stephenr 11y ago
  Why are you frying steak? If it's cut that can stand the heat of a grill/bbq, it will have enough fat in it to keep itself moist and to prevent it from sticking, as the fat will start to melt.
  - stdbrouw 11y ago
    Because it's convenient and can still taste really good.
  - DiabloD3 11y ago
    Because every cut of steak is different. Some grill well, some go under the broiler well, some fry well, some braise well. And the way commercial butchers carve steaks nowadays, they cut off too much fat. Its annoying.
vezzy-fnord 11y ago
Kracht's title Imperium has an ironic double meaning: the absolute power of the coconut in Engelhardt's philosophy, and the imperialism of Germany. The book's subject matter makes it fit even better when you consider Imperium is also the title of Francis Parker Yockey's opus.
randogp 11y ago
This Death by Coconut reminds me some mice from my colleague Jun. These mice had a mutation in one gene but they were doing fine. One Friday Jun gave them a chow diet from another supplier. The following Monday all mutant mice were died, control mice were OK. TLDR, the new diet contained coconut oil instead of lard. After more study, this serendipitous observation led to discover a gene important for the break down of vegetal fat. The study: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.032 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.032

46 points by nkurz 11y ago

The comments on the NPR story are amusing.

"He believed that since the coconut grew high up in the tree, closest to God and closest to the sun, it was godlike," says Kracht. "And since it had hair and looked like a human head, he thought it came closest to being a man. According to his rather crackpot theory, to be a cocovore was to be a theophage — or eater of God." Then apparently I like to fry steaks in a couple of spoonfuls of liquid God, and wash it down with the blood of Christ (ie, wine).

nkozyra 11y ago
Bold choice using a non-neutral oil for your steaks, how does it compare?
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  I prefer it over using olive oil, but only for steaks, and I use pure coconut oil instead of refined, so I get a stronger coconut oil taste from it. For some reason, I find it makes beef taste better. Not sure why, I'm usually a purist when it comes to that sort of thing.
stephenr 11y ago
Why are you frying steak? If it's cut that can stand the heat of a grill/bbq, it will have enough fat in it to keep itself moist and to prevent it from sticking, as the fat will start to melt.
- stdbrouw 11y ago
  Because it's convenient and can still taste really good.
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  Because every cut of steak is different. Some grill well, some go under the broiler well, some fry well, some braise well. And the way commercial butchers carve steaks nowadays, they cut off too much fat. Its annoying.

vezzy-fnord 11y ago

Kracht's title Imperium has an ironic double meaning: the absolute power of the coconut in Engelhardt's philosophy, and the imperialism of Germany. The book's subject matter makes it fit even better when you consider Imperium is also the title of Francis Parker Yockey's opus.

randogp 11y ago

This Death by Coconut reminds me some mice from my colleague Jun. These mice had a mutation in one gene but they were doing fine. One Friday Jun gave them a chow diet from another supplier. The following Monday all mutant mice were died, control mice were OK. TLDR, the new diet contained coconut oil instead of lard. After more study, this serendipitous observation led to discover a gene important for the break down of vegetal fat. The study: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.032 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.032