Ambrosia (fruit salad)

From ArticleWorld

Ambrosia fruit salad first appeared in the late nineteenth century, when dried coconut started to become a highly used ingredient. Before this time there were similar fruit salads, which went by other names, but they lacked the key ingredient that sets ambrosia apart from others…coconut.

The name is most likely derived from the Food of the Gods. The Gods in Greek mythology ate ambrosia and drank nectar to instill strength and immortality.

Contents 1 Coconut 2 Freshly grated coconut 3 Variations 3.1 Dressings

Coconut

The origin of the coconut is unknown. Some say it started in India, others say the South Pacific. It is, however, agreed that the fruit made its way around the globe on sea currents. The sturdy shelled fruit was perfectly suited for surviving extended time splashing around in the water. And this is just how it came to Florida, prompting the name Palm Beach.

It was the 1880s when a ship wrecked off the coast of Florida. A shipment of the luscious nuts broke lose and surfed the current, landing on the beach. Conditions were perfect, and coconut palms grew abundantly. When settlers were deciding what to call the tropical beach, the choice was obvious.

Freshly grated coconut

1. Pierce coconut eyes and drain.
2. Bake coconut in 400 degree oven for fifteen minutes. This heating process helps the meat easily separate from the shell.
3. Enclose the nut in a kitchen towel, forming a handle.
4. Hold handle firmly in one hand, and hit the coconut firmly with a hammer.
5. Carefully separate meat from shell with a knife.
6. Peel the brown skin with a potato peeler.
7. Grate with micro-grater or the fine side of a box grater.

One coconut will produce approximately 3 cups of grated meat.

Variations

Ambrosia fruit salad has many different variations. In Mary D Pretlow’s cookbook, Old Southern Recipes, 1930, she instructs, you must not use canned coconut.

In James Beard’s 1949 cookbook, Fireside Cook Book, he instructs, moist canned coconut is the best for this.

Most early recipes were simple, consisting only of orange slices, coconut and sugar. These ingredients were either mixed together, or layered.

In the book, My Mother’s Southern Desserts: More Than 200 Treasured Recipes for Holiday and Everyday Celebrations, by James Villas and Dennis Gottlieb, Martha Pearl Villas comments, People who add grapefruit, pineapple, grapes and bananas, and Lord knows what else to ambrosia, simply don’t understand ambrosia.

There are as many variations to ambrosia fruit salad as there are Greek Gods. Although the basic recipe always starts with oranges and coconut, depending on whose recipe is in use, the type of orange differs from navel, to blood, to mandarin. Other ingredients can include:

• Grapefruit.
• Pineapple.
• Banana.
• Marshmallows
• Nuts…pecans, walnuts, pistachios.
• Fruit cocktail.
• Berries
• Grapes
• Maraschino cherries.
• Dried cranberries.
• Dates.
• Raisins.

Dressings

• Whipped cream.
• Frozen whipped topping.
• Sour cream.
• Yogurt.
• Lemon or orange juice.
• Powdered sugar.
• Granulated sugar.
• Brown sugar.
• Mayonnaise.
• White wine, Cointreau, or rum.