drink the coconut water and save the coconuts in thre fridge. once you have three split them open and remove the flesh. the flesh has to be firm, but still chewy. its an art to select coconuts at the perfect ripeness.
dice the flesh and put in large bowl.
dice the onion and garlic and add to coconut chunks. you could mince them, but we didnt have a mincer at the time.
pour lime juice over mix.
add spices and season to taste.
stir in coconut milk and let sit for awhile for flavours to develop.
serve over a bed of fresh lettuce.

i only wish i could have taken a photo. we didnt have a camera as it got stolen the niht we arrived in tahiti. it would have been perfect, with a bowl of papaya’s in the background. seriously tahiti was tropical fruit paradise.

and they sell fresh coconut milk in bottles at the regular store. they make it by hand everyday, simply gratge the flesh of a mature coconut and then strain through a nut mylk bag. i used to coat my hair in coconut milk before bed each night at rinse in the morning. it did amazing things to my hair. i love french polynesia, i sound like an advertisment for the place…. mmm, coconuts….