# nata de coco



## Qcumber

The first time I came across the Spanish phrase *nata de coco*, I thought it simply meant "coconut cream". Now, when I was shown it, it didn't look like cream at all, but like some translucent hard jelly.

When I asked for "coconut cream", they brought something that looked light cream, and they called it "*kakanggatâ*".

I know that *gatâ* means "coconut milk".
My questions:
1) What does the underlined part of* kakanggatâ* mean? 
2) What is the Tagalog name for "cononut juice" (its a watery, almost colourless liquid)?


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## moonshine

Yeah *nata de coco* is like coconut jelly that's a bit more rubbery than your regular Jell-o variety.

*Kakanggata*, I don't really know where "kakang-" was derived from, but it means the first extraction of milk from shredded coconut. Don't know if you're familiar with this but we refer to young coconuts (the ones that are green) as _*buko*_, the old coconuts (the ones that are brown) as *niyog*. To get coconut milk, you shred meat from an old coconut, douse it with hot water and squeeze the milk out. The initial batch of coconut milk would be _kakanggata_. You can repeat the cycle to get more milk but the result would be less thick.

Coconut juice is often referred to as *sabaw ng buko* (rough translation: coconut soup) or simply *buko juice*.


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## Qcumber

moonshine said:


> Coconut juice is often referred to as *sabaw ng buko* (rough translation: coconut soup) or simply *buko juice*.


 Sabaw ng buko is so amusing! Thanks a lot, Moonshine.


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## Cracker Jack

You can also say katas ng buko.  I saw katas ng buko in labels of UHT tetrabriks of buko juice. However, like moonshine said, the most common translation is ''sabaw ng buko.''  In labels og nata de coco, the translation is coco gel or coco jelly.  While that of kaong is ''sugar palm jelly.''


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## Qcumber

Cracker Jack said:


> You can also say katas ng buko. I saw katas ng buko in labels of UHT tetrabriks of buko juice. However, like moonshine said, the most common translation is ''sabaw ng buko.'' In labels of nata de coco, the translation is coco gel or coco jelly. While that of kaong is ''sugar palm jelly.''


Thanks a lot.
Perhaps I should make a list of all the vocabulary related to the coconut.
By the way, how did the Tagalogs call the _nata de coco_ before the Spanish term was introduced?


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## Cracker Jack

I am not really sure about it.  But judging from the name, it could have been an invention during the Spanish regime.


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## Qcumber

Cracker Jack said:


> I am not really sure about it. But judging from the name, it could have been an invention during the Spanish regime.


Do you mean this produce may have been invented during the Spanish period? This is fascinating. I feel like doing some research in this direction.


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## Qcumber

moonshine said:


> Coconut juice is often referred to as *sabaw ng buko* (rough translation: coconut soup) or simply *buko juice*.


*sabáw ng [nang] búko*
The expression made me laugh yesterday because I perceived it through the English translation.
I have checked *sabáw* in the oldest Spanish-Tagalog dictionary available (1613). The original meaning is not "soup", but "juice", so that "soup" is a derived meaning.


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## lhanie

*Nata de coco* is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like  food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water. _Nata de coco_ is most commonly sweetened as a candy or dessert, and can accompany many things including drinks,ice cream, and fruit mixes. The product originates from thePhilippines
 
"Nata de coco" comes from SPANISH "Cream of Coconut". Cream in this sense means the fat from the coconut milk. The Spanish name is a result of Spain's colonization of the Philippines.


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## Qcumber

lhanie said:


> "Nata de coco" comes from SPANISH "Cream of Coconut". Cream in this sense means the fat from the coconut milk.


Frankly I doubt very much Spaniards would have called "_*nata *_(cream)" something that doesn't look like cream.


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## lhanie

Qcumber said:


> Frankly I doubt very much Spaniards would have called "_*nata *_(cream)" something that doesn't look like cream.


Nata-de-coco a cellulosic white to CREAMY yellow substance formed by acetobacter aceti subspecies Xylinium, on the surface of sugar enriched coconut water / coconut milk / plant extract / fruit juices or other waste materials rich in sugar. It is popularly used as a dessert. 
** 
** 
*Process (From Matured Coconut Water) *

Initially coconut water is strained and mixed with sugar and glacial acetic acid in stipulated proportions. Boil for ten minutes and cool. Add the culture solution and distribute the mixture in wide mouthed glass or plastic jars, cover the jar with a paper or a thin cloth to protect from dust. It is then kept aside undisturbed for two to three weeks. After this period, the white jelly like thick surface growth is harvested, washed thoroughly to remove all the acids and sliced into cubes. It is then immersed in flavoured sugar solution, again boiled and packed in glass jars or retortable pouches, sterilized and sealed.
*-- it is actually from a creamy form then just preserved from 2 to 3 weeks to make it a jelly form *


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## Qcumber

lhanie said:


> Nata-de-coco a cellulosic white to CREAMY yellow substance formed by acetobacter aceti subspecies Xylinium, on the surface of sugar enriched coconut water / coconut milk / plant extract / fruit juices or other waste materials rich in sugar. It is popularly used as a dessert.


 I read this several weeks ago in Wikipedia.  

What I was served in the Philippines and what they called "_nata de coco_" was not a cream at all, but a sort of jelly, as said in the rest of the article. Whatever, it's an interesting case of misapplication of a foreign term to a local thing. There are many such examples in various languages.

Besides, may I draw your attention to the fact that "creamy" in the article specifies the colour "yellow". It does not say anything about the texture of the produce, which anyway is not that of a cream whether thick or light.


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## lhanie

Qcumber said:


> lhanie said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nata-de-coco a cellulosic white to CREAMY yellow substance formed by acetobacter aceti subspecies Xylinium, on the surface of sugar enriched coconut water / coconut milk / plant extract / fruit juices or other waste materials rich in sugar. It is popularly used as a dessert. *[*/quote]
> I read this several weeks ago in Wikipedia.
> 
> What I was served in the Philippines and what they called "_nata de coco_" was not a cream at all, but a sort of jelly, as said in the rest of the article. Whatever, it's an interesting case of misapplication of a foreign term to a local thing. There are many such examples in various languages.
> 
> Besides, may I draw your attention to the fact that "creamy" in the article specifies the colour "yellow". It does not say anything about the texture of the produce, which anyway is not that of a cream whether thick or light.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> actually... my grandmother used to make nata de coco before.. in the process of making it... it will form into a creamy substance till you preserved it and resulted into a jelly form.. same with gelatin. gulaman and other desserts
> 
> and you're right there are many words  from a foreign language adopted to local language that are definetely misapplied
> 
> 
> 
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Click to expand...


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