I don’t enjoy coconut-flavored anything. So over the years when I saw recipes that called for coconut milk, I just skipped. Because I don’t like coconut. Then, a few months ago, my friend asked if I could taste a dish she had cooked. It was chicken penne in a cream sauce made with…coconut milk. So I said, “Oh, it looks so good, but I don’t eat anything with coconut.” But it really did look so good. And my friend promised it wouldn’t taste like coconut. So I tasted…and it didn’t! The coconut flavor was masked by the other ingredients and only some sweetness came through.
Since then I am happy to report that I have tasted many foods made with coconut milk and the flavor has never bothered me. I’m taking it to the next level and cooking a chicken recipe I found, with a sauce made from coconut milk (will report, b”n). I am very committed to this new discovery, as you can see.
I think it’s because in a tiny way, cooking with coconut milk after all these years represents an expanded self-definition. I can like something I thought I would never like. I can cook something I thought I would never cook. I can get comfortable with something new until it’s not new anymore. And at the heart of it, I can change.
I am finding that the more I try things I never included in my own self-concept, the easier it gets to try other new things. We’re talking small, low-stakes ventures here but maybe with time the bravery muscle will get stronger?
What’s your coconut milk?
I said I’d follow up: the coconut milk chicken was pretty good! I did leave out the broth and spinach.