Bichos
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Most of you probably know that there was a wildfire on Burbage Moor recently, suspected to be caused by a disposable BBQ. I also read a fascinating blog post about the work the Peak District wardens do, and was surprised that people were reporting that they had no idea open fires (and probably BBQs) are not permitted in the National Park:
thepathlesstravelled.co.uk/2023/05/29/three-days-in-may/
This section struck me on having open fires:
"They said that nothing on their social media feeds about wild camping had explained risk".
Which made me wonder where the hell were they getting their information from, and what it said. I Googled "wild camping Peak District", and found that whilst mentioning the risk of open fires (they obviously hadn't got their info from there), none of the top results mentioned BBQs and the fact they are not permitted in the National Park. I have now started a bit of a one woman crusade to get that rectified 😁 The top result, now clearly displays this information, and Bex moved the section about fires to the top of the page as requested:
www.theordinaryadventurer.com/advice/wild-camping-peak-di...
Another success here:
abrokenbackpack.com/camping-peak-district/
The page previously actively encouraged BBQs by saying, and now states. I'll try a few more over the next few days, but my other bugbear is the "Peak District Wild Camping" Facebook group. The information when joining the group states:
"Fires can be a fundamental element to a camp out but we’ve decided to ban fire posts to avoid possibly promoting any unnecessary damage to the National Park."
Is it me, or does this send entirely the wrong message? To me it reads as if fires are central to a wild camp? I mean, when was a fire ever part of leave no trace camping? I wrote to the Admin of the group, asking for this to be reconsidered, and also to add some info about BBQs being banned, but was ignored.
Not quite related, but latest I was read was him recommending Burbage Valley as a wild camping location to a first timer. Burbage Valley? You're never more than 10 minutes from the road! Not to mention the aforementioned wildfire.
Happy for you to tell me I'm being a complete killjoy, but I might be difficult to convince 😂 The same bloke runs the Snowdonia and Lake District wild camping FB groups too, all with the same group information.
And breathe 😂 Right, off to write to the supermarkets and ask them to stop selling disposable BBQs!
The rain was rapidly blowing in at the weekend while walking beside the River Lyn near Watersmeet, Exmoor.
Most of the shots were spoiled by rain blotches! But it was the wind that was main bugbear; in order to freeze the movement of the branches I had to use a faster shutter speed than normal hence the textured water effect :)
I’m WFH this afternoon. I went to the kitchen to get another cuppa cawfee and came back to this. Apparently I’d been petting the mouse when I should have petted Someone Else. (In the background you can see my work-related trophies from the FDFFL and the Bugbear, whose job it is to eat software bugs.) Added to Happy Caturday for 10 July 2021 theme “Cats and Electronics.”
one of my (admittedly many) bugbears is people's inability to deal with their rubbish. obviously the owner of this prada number has had to change in the street and had no need of the box.
hopefully whatever it was fell apart or was ruined on the night out,
Photo opportunities were limited on the beach at Titchwell last weekend. Most of this was due to lower numbers of birds on the beach. I spent the better part of two hours lying behind a rock hoping some of the birds would make their way towards me and although a small group of knot started to they were never quite close enough.
However, another reason was due to one of my biggest bugbears, disturbance. I understand that people want to take photos but no photo is more important than the welfare of the subject and scaring birds from a feeding area is not good. When people walk straight towards birds on the beach at Titchwell without trying to conceal themselves, wearing purple jackets or bright red socks do they really expect the birds to stay still and wait to have their photo taken? Of course they won't they will fly off just like this oystercatcher did, straight past the rock I was hiding behind...
Newark Council Offices - for Window Wednesday!
This building is quite new, only a few years old and I’d much more accessible for local people to go to. The previous building was very inconveniently out of town! The only bugbear is that they charge for parking! One of the penalties of modern life, I expect.
68026 Enterprise hauls train 1U23, the 05:35 Manchester Piccadilly to Scarborough towards Strensall from York past Oakbutts Farm soon after sunrise on the morning of September the 13th 2023.
One of the delights or bugbears of these locomotives, according to your perception, is their sound. The line rises gently from York, about five miles to here. And for five minutes early in the morning soon after the sun has risen you could hear it, the rise and fall, the mechanical drone, high, cemented with deep bass undertones. Sophistication for the connoisseur.
Another 605, there can't be many people who have owned two of these in the same year.
I regretted selling my silver one, but the leather and auto box were two bugbears. This one has velour and a manual gearbox, so its a vast improvement. Very mollycoddled from new, and it shows in how good it looks. Some room for improvement elsewhere, the exhaust is rattling in the mid section and the starter motor is very, very lazy sounding so I best sort that before it conks out completely.
Otherwise pretty decent to drive. I never quite understood the complaint many motoring journalists had of these at the time claiming the steering was vague. In my opinion, it's incredibly grippy for a big car and doesn't wallow like many others do. Obviously this one being shod in Michelins all round helps...
SHIPtember has me building again, so thank you to all you crazy-fast builders out there for some inspiration! I AM building a SHIP, but it's me, so it's gonna be a while before that's ready for posting. This little guy will be going along with it.
This is the first hardsuit I've ever built! It was a whole bunch of fun and I totally get why some builders start and don't stop!
DS-3b "Bugbear"
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Built for Mobile Frame Zero - a tabletop wargame.
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Mobile Frame Hangar (MF0 Community Forums)
3 different bards, each one comprising a different bardic subclass from the game Dungeons and Dragons. From L to R: College of spirits bard (who communes with his dead loved ones via flute), College of Eloquence bard, and last but not least, a bugbear College of Valor bard.
As always, comments appreciated.
The bugbear of street art photographers, the parked car. You can’t park on double yellow lines so just park on the pavement instead ...
Not the most attractive "Pub" to photograph, but what I find surprising, it was pitch dark except of course for the interior lighting, not good for hand held photography and no flash, (that dark I couldn't see to frame it properly, although I try to avoid flash at all costs if possible,) the surprise element for me was expecting to make an image under these conditions, hand held, no image stabilizer, no tripod, cheapo manual focus lens, aps-c camera, well judge for yourself, not necessary the subject matter, but the sharpness/tonality and absolutely no noise....apparently one of the bugbears of APS-C Sensors....😲
TTArtisan 50mm 1/60th f1.0 iso100
bete noire \bet-NWAHR\, noun:
Something or someone particularly detested or avoided; a bugbear.
From the French: bête, beast + noire, black.
That ^^^ means no flashy logos or daft graphics please!!
Few things...
Apologies for not being around so much currently, lot of stuff going on with me which is really ****ing with my head, and photography (or rather the related online aspect) is suffering because of it. It's not that I've stopped looking in on you, I just, you know...
Secondly, you'll be pleased to note (I hope) that Easter weekend brings three scheduled shoots, and I got an email about 5 mins ago enquiring about another. Massive potential for all things wonderful, but also a bit of pressure on me as I'll be trying a few things which are unknown to me, so I hope I don't cock up. Unfortunately this also brings about the liklihood of a shit load of editing afterwards, which is going to drive me to distraction, but you know, this book won't make itself!
Lastly, just a wee opportunity to mouth off about a particular bugbear of mine. Black and white photos. Common misconception that when a photo's gone average or turned to shit, making it B&W and adding a load of grain makes it good again. Load of crap. The age old addage of 'you can't polish a turd' applies here, and I've become (through practice I might add) a firm believer that in order to take good black and whites, you need to see the image works in colour first, as you've less visual props to hold the photo together.
That little rant has nothing to do with anything really, just popped in my head after uploading this. So here, have a lovely little B&W of Ella and marvel at how drop dead pretty she is! :-)
Wish me luck with the shoots, if you've not heard anything by Tues next week, it all went wrong and I jumped off a bridge! Enjoy your Easter weekend everyone! :-)
Also known as "the thing", this drove into the car park here in Burntisland whilst I was parked on Sunday letting my Applause front wheel cool down for the 4th time that day (I think) - yes, it needs to go into the garage yet again for this bugbear. This was the worst it has ever been, and I'm hoping the caliper overhaul kit I bought on eBay a few months ago will solve the problem if I can get my usual local mechanic to find some time to do the work. The owner of the VW was friendly enough when I asked to snap his car, and although I saw him glance at my car, I don't think it registered as anything interesting to him, which is fair enough!
It was the lovely old shop front and original facia that caught my eye.
W. H. Smith’s beautiful lettering was designed in 1903 by Eric Gill. This font was used for the first time on the fascia of Smith’s shop on the rue de Rivoli in Paris, where it was hand-painted by Gill himself. It continued to be used by the firm into the late 1950s.
Oh that present day W. H. Smiths were so stylish!
Their present shop fronts are often the ugliest on the high street, with huge blue facia vinyls and white charmless lettering. (The out of scale bright blue facias on their Chipping Norton store in the centre of a row of elegant 18th century buildings are a particular bugbear of mine.)
The building itself is a 15th century hall, The Moot Hall or Charnel House depending on your source.
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Valais, Mountains
Linhof Master Technika, Schneider Apo Symmar 150 f5.6 MC
Fomapan 100, Rodinal 1:50 9min
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This is an extract of an Antony Gormley statue, one of two which are featured in his work Parallel Field which is current on display at St Mary Axe in London; as part of the ‘Sculpture in the City’ project it’s on location until May 2014.
I have walked past the status many times but never stopped to take a photo until a few nights ago when I was out playing with my new Sony QX100 camera. Though I would certainly deem this as a fun camera, and perhaps not the ‘professional’ label Sony put on it, I am enjoying using it and my biggest bugbear is the fact it doesn’t shoot RAW.
This image was taken with it, by the way, and it was real easy and effortless to get the angle I wanted simply by moving my wrist a little bit – no bending over and trying to position myself or a tripod in just the right spot – I didn’t even have a tripod, it was held in my hand only.
The building popping out at the rear right hand side of the shot is the Gherkin.
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A quiet moment of reflection (forgive the pun) from yesterdays shoot at Mill End - the only bugbear I have is the sheer number of vapour trails in the sky - then again I guess I am under the Heathrow flightpath and occassionally the vapour trails can add something to the composition.
“As the forest clears up ahead a structure with at least seven crumbling towers emerges; A keep long forgotten.”
Another small D&D scene from my hand. This time depicting the idyllic goblin-overtaken Gragmaw Castle named after the Gragmaw tribe itself.
People who are keeping track might know this build was completed a small year ago already. However, the party I DM for had so far managed to avoid the location. Two days ago they at last bartered a deal with goblin-king Grol to try and slay the Dragon of Thundertree a second time. The castle itself was tricky to build as it consists of 7 overlapping towers but I think they came out quite nicely. What do you think?
The official map from the 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' 5th Edition Starter Set for reference can be found here: prints.mikeschley.com/p856083253/h2B984CFE#h3e0596fb
See also my other microscale D&D builds here:
Chassis n° 829 ARO 001 611
Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais 2020
Bonhams
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2020
Estimated : € 400.000 - 500.000
Unsold
A limited production 'homologation special', the Lancia Stratos is historically significant as the first car from a major manufacturer conceived specifically for rallying. The spearhead of Lancia's international rally campaign in the 1970s, the Stratos had its origins in a Fulvia-powered, mid-engined design exercise by Marcello Gandini first exhibited on Carrozzeria Bertone's stand at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. Also the work of Gandini and Bertone, the production Stratos of 1972 retained the striking 'wedge' styling of its forbear but employed the powerful Ferrari Dino 2.4-litre V6 engine. The latter was housed in a robust steel monocoque body tub clad in glassfibre coachwork.
That such a daring design actually made it into production is mainly due to Cesare Fiorio, co-founder of the HF Corse team that had become Lancia's official competitions department in 1965. Lancia was already enjoying considerable success in international rallying with modified versions of the Fulvia, but in the Stratos Fiorio saw an opportunity to create a purpose-built rally car from the ground upwards. He was an admirer of Ferrari's quad-cam V6 motor, having evaluated a Dino for rallying purposes, and Enzo Ferrari was duly persuaded to come on board as the engine supplier. The stubby, mid-engined Stratos looked nothing like a traditional rally car, but then Fiorio knew exactly what he was doing.
As befitted a car purpose built to cope with all types of rallying, the Stratos came with fully adjustable, all-independent suspension by double wishbones and coil springs, plus four-wheel disc brakes all round. With 190bhp on tap, the production road-going (Stradale) version was good for 225km/h (140mph). The works Group 4 rally cars were, of course, considerably more powerful, but reliability problems meant that success was slow to come. After its initial major victory in the 1974 Targa Florio, the Stratos went on to dominate international rallying, Lancia winning the World Rally Championship of Makes in 1975 and 1976. Works pilote Bernard Darniche triumphed twice in the world's premier drivers' competition - the European Rally Championship - in 1976 and 1977, and the Stratos helped Markku Alén to the inaugural World Drivers' Championship in 1978. Alén's season had been split between the Stratos and the FIAT 131, and it was the parent company's political decision to favour that latter, rather than any lack of competitiveness, which saw the incomparable Stratos phased out, though private entrants continued to enjoy success at international level into the early 1980s.
Its competition-focused rationale notwithstanding, the Stratos in Stradale form is surprisingly usable on the road. As one would expect of a car designed for rallying, forward visibility is excellent, enabling the driver to place the Stratos with confidence. There is ample elbowroom inside and a surprisingly generous amount of luggage space at the rear, while that bugbear of so many mid-engined designs – excessive interior heat – is kept under control.
Incredible as it may seem today, after the 500-or-so cars required for homologation had been completed in 1975, the vast majority remained unsold due to lack of demand. (As it happens, that crucial '500' figure was never reached, one widely circulated estimate stating that only 492 were built). Almost as soon as it ceased active competition though, the car's historic significance was recognised and prices soared.
Finished in blue with yellow seats and correct gold-painted wheels, this Stratos Stradale was delivered new in 1976 to Dr Rudolf Wiespointner of Wels, Austria, who kept the car for 23 years. In 1999 the Stratos was sold to Rudolf Bromberger of Vienna, Austria, passing to the current (third) owner in 2012. Restored circa eight years ago and rarely used since, it remains in very good condition. The paintwork is of very good quality and the panel fit, if anything, is better than new, while the engine compartment appears in very good, almost unmarked, factory-correct condition. This car retains its original engine and gearbox, which have never been rebuilt but remain in excellent condition.
Offered with French Carte Grise and an original workshop manual and sales brochure, this beautiful Stratos Stradale is a highly original and unmolested example of a mythical and supremely successful competition model from one of the most distinguished marques in motoring history.
This trio doesn't just look nasty, they are nasty! Nothing but trouble and ill intent!
These goblins have seen many adventures in our collection since they were new in 1982. Like the dwarves from the same toy line, these goblins were an excellent size to fight the 54mm knights.
They each came as a companion to a larger monster in LJN's AD&D series. From left to right they came with the bugbear, the troll and the troglodyte.
If you see them... run!!
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A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Galería Estatal Tretiakov - State Tretyakov Gallery - Государственная Третьяковская галерея
Borís Mijáilovich Kustódiev (ruso, Борис Михайлович Кустодиев; 7 de marzo de 1878–28 de mayo de 1927) fue un pintor y escenógrafo ruso.
Borís Kustódiev nació en Astrakán en la familia de un profesor de filosofía, historia de la literatura, y lógica en el seminario teológico local. Entre 1893 y 1896, Borís estudió en el seminario teológico y recibió clases privadas de arte en Astrakán de Pável Vlásov, un alumno de Vasili Perov.3 Posteriormente, desde 1896 hasta 1903, acudió al taller de Iliá Repin en la Academia Imperial de las Artes en San Petersburgo, colaborando posteriormente con él como ayudante. Expuso por vez primera en 1896.
Realizó visitas a Francia y España gracias a una beca de la Academia Imperial en 1904; luego, en 1907, estuvo en Italia, y en 1909 visitó Austria y Alemania, y de nuevo Francia e Italia. En esta época pintó sobre todo retratos y trabajos de género.
En 1905, Kustódiev se dedicó por vez primera a la ilustración de libros, un género que cultivaría el resto de su vida. Ilustró muchas obras de la literatura clásica rusa. Debido a una enfermedad, tuvo que marchar a Suiza, donde pasó un año en tratamiento en una clínica privada. Quedó parapléjico en 1916, estando a partir de entonces confinado en su habitación.
El artista también estuvo interesado en diseño de escenarios. Primero empezó a trabajar en el teatro en 1911, cuando diseñó decorados para la obra de Aleksandr Ostrovski Un corazón ardiente. Fue tal su éxito que le llegaron nuevos encargos. En 1913, diseñó escenario y vestuario para La muerte de Pázujin en el Teatro del Arte de Moscú. Demostró su talento en otras obras de Ostrovski.
En 1923, Kustódiev se unió a la Asociación de Artistas de la Rusia Revolucionaria. Siguió pintando, haciendo grabados, ilustrando libros y diseñando para el teatro hasta su muerte el 28 de mayo de 1927, en Leningrado.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borís_Kustódiev
Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (Russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Кусто́диев; 7 March [O.S. 23 February] 1878 – 28 May 1927) was a Russian painter and stage designer.
Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a professor of philosophy, history of literature, and logic at the local theological seminary.[1] His father died young, and all financial and material burdens fell on his mother's shoulders. The Kustodiev family rented a small wing in a rich merchant's house. It was there that the boy's first impressions were formed of the way of life of the provincial merchant class. The artist later wrote, "The whole tenor of the rich and plentiful merchant way of life was there right under my nose... It was like something out of an Ostrovsky play." The artist retained these childhood observations for years, recreating them later in oils and water-colours.
Between 1893 and 1896, Kustodiev studied in theological seminary and took private art lessons in Astrakhan from Pavel Vlasov, a pupil of Vasily Perov. Subsequently, from 1896 to 1903, he attended Ilya Repin’s studio at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Concurrently, he took classes in sculpture under Dmitry Stelletsky and in etching under Vasiliy Mate. He first exhibited in 1896.
"I have great hopes for Kustodiev," wrote Repin. "He is a talented artist and a thoughtful and serious man with a deep love of art; he is making a careful study of nature..." When Repin was commissioned to paint a large-scale canvas to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the State Council, he invited Kustodiev to be his assistant. The painting was extremely complex and involved a great deal of hard work. Together with his teacher, the young artist made portrait studies for the painting, and then executed the right-hand side of the final work. Also at this time, Kustodiev made a series of portraits of contemporaries whom he felt to be his spiritual comrades. These included the artist Ivan Bilibin (1901, Russian Museum), Moldovtsev (1901, Krasnodar Regional Art Museum), and the engraver Mate (1902, Russian Museum). Working on these portraits considerably helped the artist, forcing him to make a close study of his model and to penetrate the complex world of the human soul.
In 1903, he married Julia Proshinskaya (1880–1942).
He visited France and Spain on a grant from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1904. Also in 1904, he attended the private studio of René Ménard in Paris. After that he traveled to Spain, then, in 1907, to Italy, and in 1909 he visited Austria and Germany, and again France and Italy. During these years he painted many portraits and genre pieces. However, no matter where Kustodiev happened to be – in sunny Seville or in the park at Versailles – he felt the irresistible pull of his motherland. After five months in France he returned to Russia, writing with evident joy to his friend Mate that he was back once more "in our blessed Russian land".
The Russian Revolution of 1905, which shook the foundations of society, evoked a vivid response in the artist's soul. He contributed to the satirical journals Zhupel (Bugbear) and Adskaya Pochta (Hell’s Mail). At that time, he first met the artists of Mir Iskusstva (World of Art), the group of innovative Russian artists. He joined their association in 1910 and subsequently took part in all their exhibitions.
In 1905, Kustodiev first turned to book illustrating, a genre in which he worked throughout his entire life. He illustrated many works of classical Russian literature, including Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls, The Carriage, and The Overcoat; Mikhail Lermontov's The Lay of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, His Young Oprichnik and the Stouthearted Merchant Kalashnikov; and Leo Tolstoy's How the Devil Stole the Peasants Hunk of Bread and The Candle.[2]
n 1909, he was elected into Imperial Academy of Arts. He continued to work intensively, but a grave illness—tuberculosis of the spine—required urgent attention. On the advice of his doctors he went to Switzerland, where he spent a year undergoing treatment in a private clinic. He pined for his distant homeland, and Russian themes continued to provide the basic material for the works he painted during that year. In 1918, he painted The Merchant's Wife, which became the most famous of his paintings.
In 1916, he became paraplegic. "Now my whole world is my room", he wrote. His ability to remain joyful and lively despite his paralysis amazed others. His colourful paintings and joyful genre pieces do not reveal his physical suffering, and on the contrary give the impression of a carefree and cheerful life.
His Pancake Tuesday/Maslenitsa (1916) and Fontanka (1916) are all painted from his memories. He meticulously restores his own childhood in the busy city on the Volga banks.
In the first years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 the artist worked with great inspiration in various fields. Contemporary themes became the basis for his work, being embodied in drawings for calendars and book covers, and in illustrations and sketches of street decorations, as well as some portraits (Portrait of Countess Grabowska)
His covers for the journals The Red Cornfield and Red Panorama attracted attention because of their vividness and the sharpness of their subject matter. Kustodiev also worked in lithography, illustrating works by Nekrasov. His illustrations for Leskov's stories The Darner and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District were landmarks in the history of Russian book designing, so well did they correspond to the literary images.
The artist was also interested in designing stage scenery. He first started work in the theatre in 1911, when he designed the sets for Alexander Ostrovsky's An Ardent Heart. Such was his success that further orders came pouring in. In 1913, he designed the sets and costumes for The Death of Pazukhin at the Moscow Art Theatre.
His talent in this sphere was especially apparent in his work for Ostrovsky's plays; It's a Family Affair, A Stroke of Luck, Wolves and Sheep, and The Storm. The milieu of Ostrovsky's plays—provincial life and the world of the merchant class—was close to Kustodiev's own genre paintings, and he worked easily and quickly on the stage sets.
In 1923, Kustodiev joined the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. He continued to paint, make engravings, illustrate books, and design for the theater up until his death of tuberculosis on 28 May 1927, in Leningrad.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Kustodiev
La Galería Estatal Tretiakov (en ruso: Государственная Третьяковская галерея [Gosudárstvennaya Tret'yakóvskaya galereya]) es una galería de arte ubicada en Moscú, Rusia, considerada el principal depositario de bellas artes rusas en el mundo.
Fue fundada en (1856) por el comerciante moscovita Pável Tretiakov (1832-1898), quien adquirió varias obras de artistas rusos contemporáneos, con el objetivo de crear una colección artística, que devino finalmente en este museo de arte nacional. En 1892, Tretiakov presentó su ya famoso repertorio a la nación rusa.
La fachada del edificio que alberga la galería, fue diseñada por el pintor Víktor Vasnetsov, al estilo típico de un cuento de hadas ruso. Fue construido entre 1902 y 1904 al sur del Kremlin de Moscú. Durante el siglo XX, la galería se extendió hacia varios inmuebles adyacentes, incluyendo la Iglesia de San Nicolás en Jamóvniki. Una edificación nueva, localizada en el Krymski Val, es usada para la promoción de arte ruso moderno.
La colección está conformada por más de 130 000 obras de arte, del rango de la Virgen de Vladímir y la Trinidad de Andréi Rubliov, hasta la monumental Composición VII de Vasili Kandinski y el Cuadrado Negro de Kazimir Malévich. En 1977, la galería contenía una significativa parte de la colección de George Costakis. Además, figuran otras obras igualmente importantes de los artistas Iván Aivazovski, Iván Argunov, Vasili Súrikov, Abram Arkhipov, Andréi Kolkutin, Orest Kiprenski, Valentín Serov, Vasili Polénov, Dmitri Levitski, Iliá Repin, Mijaíl Nésterov, Iván Shishkin y Marc Chagall.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galería_Tretiakov
The State Tretyakov Gallery (Russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya; abbreviated ГТГ, GTG) is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.
The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection of approximately 2,000 works (1,362 paintings, 526 drawings, and 9 sculptures) to the Russian nation.
The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.
The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.
In 1977 the Gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.
In May 2012, the Tretyakov Art Gallery played host to the prestigious FIDE World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand as the organizers felt the event would promote both chess and art at the same time.
Pavel Tretyakov started collecting art in the middle of 1850. The founding year of the Tretyakov Gallery is considered to be 1856, when Tretyakov purchased two paintings of Russian artists: Temptation by N. G. Schilder and Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers by V. G. Kudyakov, although earlier, in 1854–1855, he had bought 11 drawings and nine pictures by Dutch Old Masters. In 1867 the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was opened. The Gallery’s collection consisted of 1,276 paintings, 471 sculptures and 10 drawings by Russian artists, as well as 84 paintings by foreign masters.
In August 1892 Tretyakov presented his art gallery to the city of Moscow as a gift. In the collection at this time, there were 1,287 paintings and 518 graphic works of the Russian school, 75 paintings and eight drawings of European schools, 15 sculptures and a collection of icons. The official opening of the museum called the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov took place on August 15, 1893.
The gallery was located in a mansion that the Tretykov family had purchased in 1851. As the Tretyakov collection of art grew, the residential part of the mansion filled with art and it became necessary to make additions to the mansion in order to store and display the works of art. Additions were made in 1873, 1882, 1885, 1892 and 1902–1904, when there was the famous façade, designed in 1900–1903 by architect V. Bashkirov from the drawings of the artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Construction of the façade was managed by the architect A. M. Kalmykov.
In early 1913, the Moscow City Duma elected Igor Grabar as a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery
On June 3, 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was declared owned by Russian Federated Soviet Republic and was named the State Tretyakov Gallery. Igor Grabar was again appointed director of the museum. With Grabar’s active participation in the same year, the State Museum Fund was created, which up until 1927 remained one of the most important sources of replenishment of the gallery's collection.
In 1926 architect and academician A. V. Shchusev became the director of the gallery. In the following year the gallery acquired the neighboring house on Maly Tolmachevsky Lane (the house was the former home of the merchant Sokolikov). After restructuring in 1928, it housed the gallery's administration, academic departments, library, manuscripts department, and funds and graphics staffs. In 1985–1994, an administrative building was built from the design of architect A. L. Bernstein with two floors and height equal to that of the exposition halls.
In 1928 serious renovations were made to the gallery to provide heating and ventilation. In 1929 electricity was installed.
In 1929 the church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi was closed, and in 1932 the building was given to the gallery and became a storage facility for paintings and sculptures. Later, the church was connected to the exposition halls and a top floor was built which was specially designed for exhibiting a painting by A. A. Ivanov,The Appearance of Christ to the People (1837–1857). A transition space was built between rooms located on either side of the main staircase. This ensured the continuity of the view of exposure. The gallery began to develop a new concept of accommodating exhibits.
In 1936, a new two floor building was constructed which is located on the north side of the main building – it is known as the Schusevsky building. These halls were first used for exhibitions, and since 1940 have been included in the main route of exposure.
From the first days of the Great War, the gallery's personnel began dismantling the exhibition, as well as those of other museums in Moscow, in preparation for evacuating during wartime. Paintings were rolled on wooden shafts, covered with tissue paper, placed in boxes, and sheathed with waterproof material. In the middle of the summer of 1941 a train of 17 wagons traveled from Moscow and brought the collection to Novosibirsk. The gallery was not reopened in Moscow until May 17, 1945, upon the conclusion of the Great War.
In 1956, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Alexander Ivanov Hall was completed.
From 1980 to 1992, the director of the Tretyakov Gallery was Y. K. Korolev. Because of the increased number of visitors, Korolev was actively engaged in expanding the area of exposition. In 1983, construction work began to expand the gallery. In 1985 the Depository, a repository of works of art and restoration workshops, was commissioned. In 1986 renovations began on the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery. The architects I. M. Vinogradsky, G. V. Astafev, B. A. Klimov and others were retained to perform this project. In 1989, on the south side of the main building, a new building was designed and constructed to house a conference hall, a computer and information center, children's studio and exhibition halls. The building was named the "Corps of Engineers", because it housed engineering systems and services.
From 1986 to 1995, the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane was closed to visitors to accommodate a major renovation project to the building. At the time, the only museum in the exhibition area of this decade was the building on the Crimean Val, 10, which in 1985 was merged with the Tretyakov Gallery.
In 1985, the Tretyakov Gallery was administratively merged with a gallery of contemporary art, housed in a large modern building along the Garden Ring, immediately south of the Krymsky Bridge. The grounds of this branch of the museum contain a collection of Socialist Realism sculpture, including such highlights as Yevgeny Vuchetich's iconic statue Iron Felix (which was removed from Lubyanka Square in 1991), the Swords Into Plowshares sculpture representing a nude worker forging a plough out of a sword, and the Young Russia monument. Nearby is Zurab Tsereteli's 86-metre-tall statue of Peter the Great, one of the tallest outdoor statues in the world.
Near the gallery of modern art there is a sculpture garden called "the graveyard of fallen monuments" that displays statues of former Soviet Union that were relocated.
There are plans to demolish the gallery constructed in the late Soviet modernism style, though public opinion is strongly against this.
Galería Estatal Tretiakov - State Tretyakov Gallery - Государственная Третьяковская галерея
Borís Mijáilovich Kustódiev (ruso, Борис Михайлович Кустодиев; 7 de marzo de 1878–28 de mayo de 1927) fue un pintor y escenógrafo ruso.
Borís Kustódiev nació en Astrakán en la familia de un profesor de filosofía, historia de la literatura, y lógica en el seminario teológico local. Entre 1893 y 1896, Borís estudió en el seminario teológico y recibió clases privadas de arte en Astrakán de Pável Vlásov, un alumno de Vasili Perov.3 Posteriormente, desde 1896 hasta 1903, acudió al taller de Iliá Repin en la Academia Imperial de las Artes en San Petersburgo, colaborando posteriormente con él como ayudante. Expuso por vez primera en 1896.
Realizó visitas a Francia y España gracias a una beca de la Academia Imperial en 1904; luego, en 1907, estuvo en Italia, y en 1909 visitó Austria y Alemania, y de nuevo Francia e Italia. En esta época pintó sobre todo retratos y trabajos de género.
En 1905, Kustódiev se dedicó por vez primera a la ilustración de libros, un género que cultivaría el resto de su vida. Ilustró muchas obras de la literatura clásica rusa. Debido a una enfermedad, tuvo que marchar a Suiza, donde pasó un año en tratamiento en una clínica privada. Quedó parapléjico en 1916, estando a partir de entonces confinado en su habitación.
El artista también estuvo interesado en diseño de escenarios. Primero empezó a trabajar en el teatro en 1911, cuando diseñó decorados para la obra de Aleksandr Ostrovski Un corazón ardiente. Fue tal su éxito que le llegaron nuevos encargos. En 1913, diseñó escenario y vestuario para La muerte de Pázujin en el Teatro del Arte de Moscú. Demostró su talento en otras obras de Ostrovski.
En 1923, Kustódiev se unió a la Asociación de Artistas de la Rusia Revolucionaria. Siguió pintando, haciendo grabados, ilustrando libros y diseñando para el teatro hasta su muerte el 28 de mayo de 1927, en Leningrado.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borís_Kustódiev
Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (Russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Кусто́диев; 7 March [O.S. 23 February] 1878 – 28 May 1927) was a Russian painter and stage designer.
Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a professor of philosophy, history of literature, and logic at the local theological seminary.[1] His father died young, and all financial and material burdens fell on his mother's shoulders. The Kustodiev family rented a small wing in a rich merchant's house. It was there that the boy's first impressions were formed of the way of life of the provincial merchant class. The artist later wrote, "The whole tenor of the rich and plentiful merchant way of life was there right under my nose... It was like something out of an Ostrovsky play." The artist retained these childhood observations for years, recreating them later in oils and water-colours.
Between 1893 and 1896, Kustodiev studied in theological seminary and took private art lessons in Astrakhan from Pavel Vlasov, a pupil of Vasily Perov. Subsequently, from 1896 to 1903, he attended Ilya Repin’s studio at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Concurrently, he took classes in sculpture under Dmitry Stelletsky and in etching under Vasiliy Mate. He first exhibited in 1896.
"I have great hopes for Kustodiev," wrote Repin. "He is a talented artist and a thoughtful and serious man with a deep love of art; he is making a careful study of nature..." When Repin was commissioned to paint a large-scale canvas to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the State Council, he invited Kustodiev to be his assistant. The painting was extremely complex and involved a great deal of hard work. Together with his teacher, the young artist made portrait studies for the painting, and then executed the right-hand side of the final work. Also at this time, Kustodiev made a series of portraits of contemporaries whom he felt to be his spiritual comrades. These included the artist Ivan Bilibin (1901, Russian Museum), Moldovtsev (1901, Krasnodar Regional Art Museum), and the engraver Mate (1902, Russian Museum). Working on these portraits considerably helped the artist, forcing him to make a close study of his model and to penetrate the complex world of the human soul.
In 1903, he married Julia Proshinskaya (1880–1942).
He visited France and Spain on a grant from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1904. Also in 1904, he attended the private studio of René Ménard in Paris. After that he traveled to Spain, then, in 1907, to Italy, and in 1909 he visited Austria and Germany, and again France and Italy. During these years he painted many portraits and genre pieces. However, no matter where Kustodiev happened to be – in sunny Seville or in the park at Versailles – he felt the irresistible pull of his motherland. After five months in France he returned to Russia, writing with evident joy to his friend Mate that he was back once more "in our blessed Russian land".
The Russian Revolution of 1905, which shook the foundations of society, evoked a vivid response in the artist's soul. He contributed to the satirical journals Zhupel (Bugbear) and Adskaya Pochta (Hell’s Mail). At that time, he first met the artists of Mir Iskusstva (World of Art), the group of innovative Russian artists. He joined their association in 1910 and subsequently took part in all their exhibitions.
In 1905, Kustodiev first turned to book illustrating, a genre in which he worked throughout his entire life. He illustrated many works of classical Russian literature, including Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls, The Carriage, and The Overcoat; Mikhail Lermontov's The Lay of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, His Young Oprichnik and the Stouthearted Merchant Kalashnikov; and Leo Tolstoy's How the Devil Stole the Peasants Hunk of Bread and The Candle.[2]
n 1909, he was elected into Imperial Academy of Arts. He continued to work intensively, but a grave illness—tuberculosis of the spine—required urgent attention. On the advice of his doctors he went to Switzerland, where he spent a year undergoing treatment in a private clinic. He pined for his distant homeland, and Russian themes continued to provide the basic material for the works he painted during that year. In 1918, he painted The Merchant's Wife, which became the most famous of his paintings.
In 1916, he became paraplegic. "Now my whole world is my room", he wrote. His ability to remain joyful and lively despite his paralysis amazed others. His colourful paintings and joyful genre pieces do not reveal his physical suffering, and on the contrary give the impression of a carefree and cheerful life.
His Pancake Tuesday/Maslenitsa (1916) and Fontanka (1916) are all painted from his memories. He meticulously restores his own childhood in the busy city on the Volga banks.
In the first years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 the artist worked with great inspiration in various fields. Contemporary themes became the basis for his work, being embodied in drawings for calendars and book covers, and in illustrations and sketches of street decorations, as well as some portraits (Portrait of Countess Grabowska)
His covers for the journals The Red Cornfield and Red Panorama attracted attention because of their vividness and the sharpness of their subject matter. Kustodiev also worked in lithography, illustrating works by Nekrasov. His illustrations for Leskov's stories The Darner and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District were landmarks in the history of Russian book designing, so well did they correspond to the literary images.
The artist was also interested in designing stage scenery. He first started work in the theatre in 1911, when he designed the sets for Alexander Ostrovsky's An Ardent Heart. Such was his success that further orders came pouring in. In 1913, he designed the sets and costumes for The Death of Pazukhin at the Moscow Art Theatre.
His talent in this sphere was especially apparent in his work for Ostrovsky's plays; It's a Family Affair, A Stroke of Luck, Wolves and Sheep, and The Storm. The milieu of Ostrovsky's plays—provincial life and the world of the merchant class—was close to Kustodiev's own genre paintings, and he worked easily and quickly on the stage sets.
In 1923, Kustodiev joined the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. He continued to paint, make engravings, illustrate books, and design for the theater up until his death of tuberculosis on 28 May 1927, in Leningrad.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Kustodiev
La Galería Estatal Tretiakov (en ruso: Государственная Третьяковская галерея [Gosudárstvennaya Tret'yakóvskaya galereya]) es una galería de arte ubicada en Moscú, Rusia, considerada el principal depositario de bellas artes rusas en el mundo.
Fue fundada en (1856) por el comerciante moscovita Pável Tretiakov (1832-1898), quien adquirió varias obras de artistas rusos contemporáneos, con el objetivo de crear una colección artística, que devino finalmente en este museo de arte nacional. En 1892, Tretiakov presentó su ya famoso repertorio a la nación rusa.
La fachada del edificio que alberga la galería, fue diseñada por el pintor Víktor Vasnetsov, al estilo típico de un cuento de hadas ruso. Fue construido entre 1902 y 1904 al sur del Kremlin de Moscú. Durante el siglo XX, la galería se extendió hacia varios inmuebles adyacentes, incluyendo la Iglesia de San Nicolás en Jamóvniki. Una edificación nueva, localizada en el Krymski Val, es usada para la promoción de arte ruso moderno.
La colección está conformada por más de 130 000 obras de arte, del rango de la Virgen de Vladímir y la Trinidad de Andréi Rubliov, hasta la monumental Composición VII de Vasili Kandinski y el Cuadrado Negro de Kazimir Malévich. En 1977, la galería contenía una significativa parte de la colección de George Costakis. Además, figuran otras obras igualmente importantes de los artistas Iván Aivazovski, Iván Argunov, Vasili Súrikov, Abram Arkhipov, Andréi Kolkutin, Orest Kiprenski, Valentín Serov, Vasili Polénov, Dmitri Levitski, Iliá Repin, Mijaíl Nésterov, Iván Shishkin y Marc Chagall.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galería_Tretiakov
The State Tretyakov Gallery (Russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya; abbreviated ГТГ, GTG) is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.
The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection of approximately 2,000 works (1,362 paintings, 526 drawings, and 9 sculptures) to the Russian nation.
The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.
The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.
In 1977 the Gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.
In May 2012, the Tretyakov Art Gallery played host to the prestigious FIDE World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand as the organizers felt the event would promote both chess and art at the same time.
Pavel Tretyakov started collecting art in the middle of 1850. The founding year of the Tretyakov Gallery is considered to be 1856, when Tretyakov purchased two paintings of Russian artists: Temptation by N. G. Schilder and Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers by V. G. Kudyakov, although earlier, in 1854–1855, he had bought 11 drawings and nine pictures by Dutch Old Masters. In 1867 the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was opened. The Gallery’s collection consisted of 1,276 paintings, 471 sculptures and 10 drawings by Russian artists, as well as 84 paintings by foreign masters.
In August 1892 Tretyakov presented his art gallery to the city of Moscow as a gift. In the collection at this time, there were 1,287 paintings and 518 graphic works of the Russian school, 75 paintings and eight drawings of European schools, 15 sculptures and a collection of icons. The official opening of the museum called the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov took place on August 15, 1893.
The gallery was located in a mansion that the Tretykov family had purchased in 1851. As the Tretyakov collection of art grew, the residential part of the mansion filled with art and it became necessary to make additions to the mansion in order to store and display the works of art. Additions were made in 1873, 1882, 1885, 1892 and 1902–1904, when there was the famous façade, designed in 1900–1903 by architect V. Bashkirov from the drawings of the artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Construction of the façade was managed by the architect A. M. Kalmykov.
In early 1913, the Moscow City Duma elected Igor Grabar as a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery
On June 3, 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was declared owned by Russian Federated Soviet Republic and was named the State Tretyakov Gallery. Igor Grabar was again appointed director of the museum. With Grabar’s active participation in the same year, the State Museum Fund was created, which up until 1927 remained one of the most important sources of replenishment of the gallery's collection.
In 1926 architect and academician A. V. Shchusev became the director of the gallery. In the following year the gallery acquired the neighboring house on Maly Tolmachevsky Lane (the house was the former home of the merchant Sokolikov). After restructuring in 1928, it housed the gallery's administration, academic departments, library, manuscripts department, and funds and graphics staffs. In 1985–1994, an administrative building was built from the design of architect A. L. Bernstein with two floors and height equal to that of the exposition halls.
In 1928 serious renovations were made to the gallery to provide heating and ventilation. In 1929 electricity was installed.
In 1929 the church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi was closed, and in 1932 the building was given to the gallery and became a storage facility for paintings and sculptures. Later, the church was connected to the exposition halls and a top floor was built which was specially designed for exhibiting a painting by A. A. Ivanov,The Appearance of Christ to the People (1837–1857). A transition space was built between rooms located on either side of the main staircase. This ensured the continuity of the view of exposure. The gallery began to develop a new concept of accommodating exhibits.
In 1936, a new two floor building was constructed which is located on the north side of the main building – it is known as the Schusevsky building. These halls were first used for exhibitions, and since 1940 have been included in the main route of exposure.
From the first days of the Great War, the gallery's personnel began dismantling the exhibition, as well as those of other museums in Moscow, in preparation for evacuating during wartime. Paintings were rolled on wooden shafts, covered with tissue paper, placed in boxes, and sheathed with waterproof material. In the middle of the summer of 1941 a train of 17 wagons traveled from Moscow and brought the collection to Novosibirsk. The gallery was not reopened in Moscow until May 17, 1945, upon the conclusion of the Great War.
In 1956, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Alexander Ivanov Hall was completed.
From 1980 to 1992, the director of the Tretyakov Gallery was Y. K. Korolev. Because of the increased number of visitors, Korolev was actively engaged in expanding the area of exposition. In 1983, construction work began to expand the gallery. In 1985 the Depository, a repository of works of art and restoration workshops, was commissioned. In 1986 renovations began on the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery. The architects I. M. Vinogradsky, G. V. Astafev, B. A. Klimov and others were retained to perform this project. In 1989, on the south side of the main building, a new building was designed and constructed to house a conference hall, a computer and information center, children's studio and exhibition halls. The building was named the "Corps of Engineers", because it housed engineering systems and services.
From 1986 to 1995, the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane was closed to visitors to accommodate a major renovation project to the building. At the time, the only museum in the exhibition area of this decade was the building on the Crimean Val, 10, which in 1985 was merged with the Tretyakov Gallery.
In 1985, the Tretyakov Gallery was administratively merged with a gallery of contemporary art, housed in a large modern building along the Garden Ring, immediately south of the Krymsky Bridge. The grounds of this branch of the museum contain a collection of Socialist Realism sculpture, including such highlights as Yevgeny Vuchetich's iconic statue Iron Felix (which was removed from Lubyanka Square in 1991), the Swords Into Plowshares sculpture representing a nude worker forging a plough out of a sword, and the Young Russia monument. Nearby is Zurab Tsereteli's 86-metre-tall statue of Peter the Great, one of the tallest outdoor statues in the world.
Near the gallery of modern art there is a sculpture garden called "the graveyard of fallen monuments" that displays statues of former Soviet Union that were relocated.
There are plans to demolish the gallery constructed in the late Soviet modernism style, though public opinion is strongly against this.
Streetdeck SL15 ZGN in Botley Rd...here we see one of the two main bugbears to bus photography in Oxford...Sep 2 2018.
SHIPtember has me building again, so thank you to all you crazy-fast builders out there for some inspiration! I AM building a SHIP, but it's me, so it's gonna be a while before that's ready for posting. This little guy will be going along with it.
This is the first hardsuit I've ever built! It was a whole bunch of fun and I totally get why some builders start and don't stop!
One of the bugbears of being a Crosville driver in rural Wales was the influx of caravans in the summer time, particularly on the R6/R7 in the Aberglaslyn Pass and the D94 between Dolgellau and Barmouth, since the routes had pinch points where passing wide vehicles was difficult if not impossible.
Here the driver of ENG976, a Wrexham man a long way from home, waits for a caravan driver to inch past. Worse was to come, since the photograph was taken from the platform of SNG409, another Crosville Leyland National bound for Barmouth on a summer only service from Machynlleth which then had to pass the ENG! Both these Nationals were converted by Crosville to Gardner power. The bus pictured here has a badge on the front, and is one of the rare dual purpose models to be so converted.
More context for this photo can be found on this page.
The photo is my third stab at presenting this image, which is also on my previous flickr account. The contrast is better here, thanks to my use of a 16 bit DNG file from raw scan data to capture the extreme tones in tricky lighting before reducing to JPG.
Taken on the 25th of July 1985. Looking at the Google street view of the main road these days I can't see anywhere with walls so close to the carriageway so I expect the road has been widened now.
. . . these are unripe coconuts. They are opened to drink the refreshing coconut water inside
________________________________________
The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family).
It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which, botanically, is a drupe, not a nut. The spelling cocoanut is an archaic form of the word. The term is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish word coco meaning "head" or "skull", from the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features.
The coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many uses of its different parts and found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are part of the daily diets of many people. Coconuts are different from any other fruits because they contain a large quantity of "water" and when immature they are known as tender-nuts or jelly-nuts and may be harvested for drinking. When mature, they still contain some water and can be used as seednuts or processed to give oil from the kernel, charcoal from the hard shell and coir from the fibrous husk. The endosperm is initially in its nuclear phase suspended within the coconut water. As development continues, cellular layers of endosperm deposit along the walls of the coconut, becoming the edible coconut "flesh". When dried, the coconut flesh is called copra. The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking and frying; coconut oil is also widely used in soaps and cosmetics. The clear liquid coconut water within is potable. The husks and leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating. The coconut also has cultural and religious significance in many societies that use it.
DESCRIPTION
PLANT
Cocos nucifera is a large palm, growing up to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long, and pinnae 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly, leaving the trunk smooth. Coconuts are generally classified into two general types: tall and dwarf. On fertile soil, a tall coconut palm tree can yield up to 75 fruits per year, but more often yields less than 30, mainly due to poor cultural practices. Given proper care and growing conditions, coconut palms produce their first fruit in six to ten years, taking 15 – 20 years to reach peak production.
FRUIT
Botanically, the coconut fruit is a drupe, not a true nut. Like other fruits, it has three layers: the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. The exocarp and mesocarp make up the "husk" of the coconut. Coconuts sold in the shops of nontropical countries often have had the exocarp (outermost layer) removed. The mesocarp is composed of a fiber, called coir, which has many traditional and commercial uses. The shell has three germination pores (stoma) or "eyes" that are clearly visible on its outside surface once the husk is removed.
A full-sized coconut weighs about 1.44 kg. It takes around 6,000 full-grown coconuts to produce a tonne of copra.
ROOTS
Unlike some other plants, the palm tree has neither a tap root nor root hairs, but has a fibrous root system.
The coconut palm root system consists of an abundance of thin roots that grow outward from the plant near the surface. Only a few of the roots penetrate deep into the soil for stability. The type of root system is known as fibrous or adventitious, and is a characteristic of grass species. Other types of large trees produce a single downward-growing tap root with a number of feeder roots growing from it.
Coconut palms continue to produce roots from the base of the stem throughout its life. The number of roots produced depends on the age of the tree and the environment, with more than 3,600 roots possible on a tree that's 60 to 70 years old.
Roots are usually less than about 3 inches in diameter and uniformly thick from the tree trunk to the root tip.
Inflorescence
The palm produces both the female and male flowers on the same inflorescence; thus, the palm is monoecious. Other sources use the term polygamomonoecious. The female flower is much larger than the male flower. Flowering occurs continuously. Coconut palms are believed to be largely cross-pollinated, although some dwarf varieties are self-pollinating.
ETYMOLOGY
One of the earliest mentions of the coconut dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights story of Sinbad the Sailor; he is known to have bought and sold coconuts during his fifth voyage. Tenga, its Malayalam and Tamil name, was used in the detailed description of coconut found in Itinerario by Ludovico di Varthema published in 1510 and also in the later Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. Even earlier, it was called nux indica, a name used by Marco Polo in 1280 while in Sumatra, taken from the Arabs who called it جوز هندي jawz hindī. Both names translate to "Indian nut". In the earliest description of the coconut palm known, given by Cosmos of Alexandria in his Topographia Christiana written about 545 AD, there is a reference to the argell tree and its drupe.
Historical evidence favors the European origin of the name "coconut", for no name is similar in any of the languages of India, where the Portuguese first found the fruit; and indeed Barbosa, Barros, and Garcia, in mentioning the Tamil/Malayalam name tenga, and Canarese narle, expressly say, "we call these fruits quoquos", "our people have given it the name of coco", and "that which we call coco, and the Malabars temga".
The OED states: "Portuguese and Spanish authors of the 16th c. agree in identifying the word with Portuguese and Spanish coco "grinning face, grin, grimace", also "bugbear, scarecrow", cognate with cocar "to grin, make a grimace"; the name being said to refer to the face-like appearance of the base of the shell, with its three holes. According to Losada, the name came from Portuguese explorers, the sailors of Vasco da Gama in India, who first brought them to Europe. The coconut shell reminded them of a ghost or witch in Portuguese folklore called coco (also côca). The first known recorded usage of the term is 1555.
The specific name nucifera is Latin for "nut-bearing".
Origin, domestication, and dispersal
ORIGIN
The origin of the plant is the subject of debate. O.F. Cook was one of the earliest modern researchers to draw conclusions about the location of origin of Cocos nucifera based on its current-day worldwide distribution. He hypothesized that the coconut originated in the Americas, based on his belief that American coconut populations predated European contact and because he considered pan-tropical distribution by ocean currents improbable. Thor Heyerdahl later used this hypothesis of the American origin of the coconut to support his theory that the Pacific Islanders originated in South America. However, more evidence exists for an Indo-Pacific origin either around Melanesia and Malesia or the Indian Ocean. The oldest fossils known of the modern coconut dating from the Eocene period from around 37 to 55 million years ago were found in Australia and India. However, older palm fossils such as some of nipa fruit have been found in the Americas. Since 1978, the work on tracing the probable origin and dispersal of Cocos nucifera has only recently been augmented by a publication on the germination rate of the coconut seednut and another on the importance of the coral atoll ecosystem. Briefly, the coconut originated in the coral atoll ecosystem — without human intervention — and required a thick husk and slow germination to survive and disperse.
DOMESTICATION
Coconuts could not reach inland locations without human intervention (to carry seednuts, plant seedlings, etc.) and it was early germination on the palm (vivipary) that was important, rather than increasing the number or size of the edible parts of a fruit that was already large enough. Human cultivation of the coconut selected, not for larger size, but for thinner husks and increased volume of endosperm, the solid “meat” or liquid “water” that provides the fruit its food value. Although these modifications for domestication would reduce the fruit’s ability to float, this ability would be irrelevant to a cultivated population.
Among modern C. nucifera, two major types or variants: a thick-husked, angular fruit and a thin-husked, spherical fruit with a higher proportion of endosperm reflect a trend of cultivation in C. nucifera: the first coconuts were of the niu kafa type, with thick husks to protect the seed, an angular, highly ridged shape to promote buoyancy during ocean dispersal, and a pointed base that allowed fruits to dig into the sand, preventing them from being washed away during germination on a new island. As early human communities began to harvest coconuts for eating and planting, they (perhaps unintentionally) selected for a larger endosperm to husk ratio and a broader, spherical base, which rendered the fruit useful as a cup or bowl, thus creating the niu vai type. The decreased buoyancy and increased fragility of this spherical, thin-husked fruit would not matter for a species that had started to be dispersed by humans and grown in plantations. Harries’ adoption of the Polynesian terms niu kafa and niu vai has now passed into general scientific discourse, and his hypothesis is generally accepted.
Variants of C. nucifera are also categorized as Tall (var. typica) or Dwarf (var. nana). The two groups are genetically distinct, with the Dwarf variety showing a greater degree of artificial selection for ornamental traits and for early germination and fruiting. The Tall variety is outcrossing while Dwarf palms are incrossing, which has led to a much greater degree of genetic diversity within the Tall group. It is believed that the Dwarf subgroup mutated from the Tall group under human selection pressure.
DISPERSAL
It is often stated that coconuts can travel 110 days, or 4,800 km, by sea and still be able to germinate. This figure has been questioned based on the extremely small sample size that forms the basis of the paper that makes this claim. Thor Heyerdahl provides an alternative, and much shorter, estimate based on his first-hand experience crossing the Pacific Ocean on the raft Kon-Tiki: "The nuts we had in baskets on deck remained edible and capable of germinating the whole way to Polynesia. But we had laid about half among the special provisions below deck, with the waves washing around them. Every single one of these was ruined by the sea water. And no coconut can float over the sea faster than a balsa raft moves with the wind behind it." He also notes that several of the nuts began to germinate by the time they had been ten weeks at sea, precluding an unassisted journey of 100 days or more. However, it is more than likely that the coconut variety Heyerdahl chose for his long sea voyage was of the large, fleshy, spherical niu vai type, which Harries observed to have a significantly shorter germination type and worse buoyancy than the uncultivated niu kafa type. Therefore, Heyerdahl’s observations cannot be considered conclusive when it comes to determining the independent dispersal ability of the uncultivated coconut.
Drift models based on wind and ocean currents have shown that coconuts could not have drifted across the Pacific unaided. This provides some circumstantial evidence that Austronesian peoples carried coconuts across the ocean and that they could not have dispersed worldwide without human agency. More recently, genomic analysis of cultivated coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) has shed light on the movements of Austronesian peoples. By examining 10 microsatellite loci, researchers found two genetically distinct subpopulations of coconut - one originating in the Indian Ocean, the other in the Pacific Ocean. However, admixture, the transfer of genetic material, evidently occurred between the two populations. Given that coconuts are ideally suited for ocean dispersal, individuals from one population possibly could have floated to the other. However, the locations of the admixture events are limited to Madagascar and coastal east Africa, and exclude the Seychelles. This pattern coincides with the known trade routes of Austronesian sailors. Additionally, a genetically distinct subpopulation of coconut on the Pacific coast of Latin America has undergone a genetic bottleneck resulting from a founder effect; however, its ancestral population is the Pacific coconut. This, together with their use of the South American sweet potato, suggests that Austronesian peoples may have sailed as far east as the Americas.
DISTRIBUTION
The coconut has spread across much of the tropics, probably aided in many cases by seafaring people. Coconut fruit in the wild are light, buoyant and highly water resistant, and evolved to disperse significant distances via marine currents. Specimens have been collected from the sea as far north as Norway. In the Hawaiian Islands, the coconut is regarded as a Polynesian introduction, first brought to the islands by early Polynesian voyagers from their homelands in Oceania. They have been found in the Caribbean and the Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America for less than 500 years, but evidence of their presence on the Pacific coast of South America predates Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. They are now almost ubiquitous between 26°N and 26°S except for the interiors of Africa and South America.
NATURAL HABITAT
The coconut palm thrives on sandy soils and is highly tolerant of salinity. It prefers areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall (1500 mm to 2500 mm annually), which makes colonizing shorelines of the tropics relatively straightforward. Coconuts also need high humidity (70–80%+) for optimum growth, which is why they are rarely seen in areas with low humidity. However, they can be found in humid areas with low annual precipitation such as in Karachi, Pakistan, which receives only about 250 mm of rainfall per year, but is consistently warm and humid.
Coconut palms require warm conditions for successful growth, and are intolerant of cold weather. Some seasonal variation is tolerated, with good growth where mean summer temperatures are between 28 and 37 °C, and survival as long as winter temperatures are above 4–12 °C; they will survive brief drops to 0 °C. Severe frost is usually fatal, although they have been known to recover from temperatures of −4 °C. They may grow but not fruit properly in areas with insufficient warmth, such as Bermuda.
The conditions required for coconut trees to grow without any care are:
- Mean daily temperature above 12–13 °C every day of the year
- Mean annual rainfall above 1000 mm
- No or very little overhead canopy, since even small trees require direct sun
The main limiting factor for most locations which satisfy the rainfall and temperature requirements is canopy growth, except those locations near coastlines, where the sandy soil and salt spray limit the growth of most other trees.
DISEASES
Coconuts are susceptible to the phytoplasma disease lethal yellowing. One recently selected cultivar, the Maypan, has been bred for resistance to this disease.
PESTS
The coconut palm is damaged by the larvae of many Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species which feed on it, including Batrachedra spp.: B. arenosella, B. atriloqua (feeds exclusively on C. nucifera), B. mathesoni (feeds exclusively on C. nucifera), and B. nuciferae.
Brontispa longissima (coconut leaf beetle) feeds on young leaves, and damages both seedlings and mature coconut palms. In 2007, the Philippines imposed a quarantine in Metro Manila and 26 provinces to stop the spread of the pest and protect the $800 million Philippine coconut industry.
The fruit may also be damaged by eriophyid coconut mites (Eriophyes guerreronis). This mite infests coconut plantations, and is devastating: it can destroy up to 90% of coconut production. The immature seeds are infested and desapped by larvae staying in the portion covered by the perianth of the immature seed; the seeds then drop off or survive deformed. Spraying with wettable sulfur 0.4% or with neem-based pesticides can give some relief, but is cumbersome and labor-intensive.
In Kerala (India), the main coconut pests are the coconut mite, the rhinoceros beetle, the red palm weevil and the coconut leaf caterpillar. Research into countermeasures to these pests has as of 2009 yielded no results; researchers from the Kerala Agricultural University and the Central Plantation Crop Research Institute, Kasaragode continue to work on countermeasures. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kannur under Kerala Agricultural University has developed an innovative extension approach called the compact area group approach (CAGA) to combat coconut mites.
PRODUCTION AND CULTIVATION
Coconut palms are grown in more than 90 countries of the world, with a total production of 62 million tonnes per year (table). Most of the world production is in tropical Asia, with Indonesia, the Philippines and India accounting collectively for 73% of the world total (table).
CULTIVATION
Coconut trees are hard to establish in dry climates, and cannot grow there without frequent irrigation; in drought conditions, the new leaves do not open well, and older leaves may become desiccated; fruit also tends to be shed.
The extent of cultivation in the tropics is threatening a number of habitats, such as mangroves; an example of such damage to an ecoregion is in the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatán.
HARVESTING
In some parts of the world (Thailand and Malaysia), trained pig-tailed macaques are used to harvest coconuts. Training schools for pig-tailed macaques still exist both in southern Thailand and in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. Competitions are held each year to find the fastest harvester.
INDIA
Traditional areas of coconut cultivation in India are the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and the islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. As per 2013-14 statistics from Coconut Development Board of Government of India, four southern states combined account for almost 92% of the total production in the country: Tamil Nadu (31.93%), Kerala (27.54%), Karnataka (23.26%), and Andhra Pradesh (8.43%). Other states, such as Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and those in the northeast (Tripura and Assam) account for the remaining productions. Though Kerala has the largest number of coconut trees, in terms of production per hectare, Tamil Nadu leads all other states. In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore and Tirupur regions top the production list.
Various terms, such as copra and coir, are derived from the native Malayalam language. In Kerala, the coconut tree is called "Thengu" also termed as kalpa vriksham, which essentially means all parts of a coconut tree is useful some way or other. In Tamil Nadu, a coconut tree is called as "Thennai maram" and tender coconut is called as "Ilaneer" in the native language.
MALDIVES
The coconut is the national tree of the Maldives and is considered the most important plant in the country. A coconut tree is also included in the country's national emblem or coat of arms. Coconut trees are grown on all the islands. Before modern construction methods were introduced, coconut leaves were used as roofing material for many houses in the islands, while coconut timber was used to build houses and boats.
MIDDLE EAST
The main coconut-producing area in the Middle East is the Dhofar region of Oman, but they can be grown all along the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Red Sea coasts, because these seas are tropical and provide enough humidity (through seawater evaporation) for coconut trees to grow. The young coconut plants need to be nursed and irrigated with drip pipes until they are old enough (stem bulb development) to be irrigated with brackish water or seawater alone, after which they can be replanted on the beaches. In particular, the area around Salalah maintains large coconut plantations similar to those found across the Arabian Sea in Kerala. The reasons why coconut are cultivated only in Yemen's Al Mahrah and Hadramaut governorates and in the Sultanate of Oman, but not in other suitable areas in the Arabian Peninsula, may originate from the fact that Oman and Hadramaut had long dhow trade relations with Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Africa and Zanzibar, as well as southern India and China. Omani people needed the coir rope from the coconut fiber to stitch together their traditional high seas-going dhow vessels in which nails were never used. The 'know how' of coconut cultivation and necessary soil fixation and irrigation may have found its way into Omani, Hadrami and Al-Mahra culture by people who returned from those overseas areas.
The coconut cultivars grown in Oman are generally of the drought-resistant Indian "West Coast tall" (WC Tall) variety. Unlike the UAE, which grows mostly non-native dwarf or hybrid coconut cultivars imported from Florida for ornamental purposes, the slender, tall Omani coconut cultivars are relatively well-adapted to the Middle East's hot dry seasons, but need longer to reach maturity. The Middle East's hot, dry climate favors the development of coconut mites, which cause immature seed dropping and may cause brownish-gray discoloration on the coconut's outer green fiber.
The ancient coconut groves of Dhofar were mentioned by the medieval Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta in his writings, known as Al Rihla.[52] The annual rainy season known locally as Khareef or monsoon makes coconut cultivation easy on the Arabian east coast.
Coconut trees also are increasingly grown for decorative purposes along the coasts of the UAE and Saudi Arabia with the help of irrigation. The UAE has, however, imposed strict laws on mature coconut tree imports from other countries to reduce the spread of pests to other native palm trees, as the mixing of date and coconut trees poses a risk of cross-species palm pests, such as rhinoceros beetles and red palm weevils. The artificial landscaping adopted in Florida may have been the cause for lethal yellowing, a viral coconut palm disease that leads to the death of the tree. It is spread by host insects, that thrive on heavy turf grasses. Therefore, heavy turf grass environments (beach resorts and golf courses) also pose a major threat to local coconut trees. Traditionally, dessert banana plants and local wild beach flora such as Scaevola taccada and Ipomoea pes-caprae were used as humidity-supplying green undergrowth for coconut trees, mixed with sea almond and sea hibiscus. Due to growing sedentary life styles and heavy-handed landscaping, there has been a decline in these traditional farming and soil-fixing techniques.
SRI LANKA
An early mention of the planting of coconuts is found in the Mahavamsa during the reign of Agrabodhi II around 589 AD. Coconuts are common in the Sri Lankan diet and the main source of dietary fat.
UNITED STATES
In the United States coconut palms can be grown and reproduced outdoors without irrigation in Hawaii, southern and central Florida, and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
In Florida, Coconut palms will grow from coastal Pinellas County and St. Petersburg southwards on Florida's west coast, and Melbourne southwards on Florida's east coast. The occasional coconut palm is seen north of these areas in favoured microclimates in Tampa and Clearwater, as well as around Cape Canaveral and Daytona Beach on the east coast. They reach fruiting maturity, but can be damaged or killed by the occasional winter freezes in these areas. In South Texas they may also be grown in favoured microclimates around the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville, and as far north as Corpus Christi , however more severe cold snaps keep them from producing viable fruit.
AUSTRALIA
Coconuts are commonly grown around the northern coast of Australia, and in some warmer parts of New South Wales.
BERMUDA
Most of the tall mature coconut trees found in Bermuda were shipped to the island as seedlings on the decks of ships. In more recent years, the importation of coconuts was prohibited, therefore, a large proportion of the younger trees have been propagated from locally grown coconuts.
In the winter months, the growth rate of coconut trees declines due to cooler temperatures and people have commonly attributed this to the reduced yield of coconuts in comparison to tropical regions. However, whilst cooler winter temperatures may be a factor in reducing fruit production, the primary reason for the reduced yield is a lack of water. Bermuda's soil is generally very shallow (1.5 to 3 feet) and much of a coconut tree's root mass is found in the porous limestone underneath the soil. Due to the porosity of the limestone, Bermuda's coconut trees do not generally have a sufficient supply of water with which they are able to support a large number of fruit as rain water quickly drains down through the limestone layer to the water table which is far too deep for a coconut's roots to reach. This typically leads to a reduction in fruit yield (sometimes as little as one or two mature fruits) as well as a reduced milk content inside the coconut that often causes the fruit to be infertile.
Conversely, trees growing in close proximity to the sea almost universally yield a much greater volume of fruit as they are able to tap directly into the sea water which permeates the limestone in such areas. Not only do these trees produce a significantly higher yield, but also the fruit itself tends to be far more fertile due to the higher milk content. Trees found growing in Bermuda's marshy inland areas enjoy a similar degree of success as they are also able to tap directly into a constant supply of water.
EUROPE
As a tropical plant, coconut is not native to Europe, but grows in tropical territories of European countries, such as Martinique and Guadeloupe (France), the Canary Islands (Spain) and Madeira (Portugal).
COOLER CLIMATES
In cooler climates (but not less than USDA Zone 9), a similar palm, the queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana), is used in landscaping. Its fruits are very similar to the coconut, but much smaller. The queen palm was originally classified in the genus Cocos along with the coconut, but was later reclassified in Syagrus. A recently discovered palm, Beccariophoenix alfredii from Madagascar, is nearly identical to the coconut, more so than the queen palm and can also be grown in slightly cooler climates than the coconut palm. Coconuts can only be grown in temperatures above 18 °C and need a daily temperature above 22 °C to produce fruit.
USES
The coconut palm is grown throughout the tropics for decoration, as well as for its many culinary and nonculinary uses; virtually every part of the coconut palm can be used by humans in some manner and has significant economic value. Coconuts' versatility is sometimes noted in its naming. In Sanskrit, it is kalpa vriksha ("the tree which provides all the necessities of life"). In the Malay language, it is pokok seribu guna ("the tree of a thousand uses"). In the Philippines, the coconut is commonly called the "tree of life".
COOKING
The various parts of the coconut have a number of culinary uses. The seed provides oil for frying, cooking, and making margarine. The white, fleshy part of the seed, the coconut meat, is used fresh or dried in cooking, especially in confections and desserts such as macaroons. Desiccated coconut or coconut milk made from it is frequently added to curries and other savory dishes. Coconut flour has also been developed for use in baking, to combat malnutrition. Coconut chips have been sold in the tourist regions of Hawaii and the Caribbean. Coconut butter is often used to describe solidified coconut oil, but has also been adopted as a name by certain specialty products made of coconut milk solids or puréed coconut meat and oil. Dried coconut is also used as the filling for many chocolate bars. Some dried coconut is purely coconut but others are manufactured with other ingredients, such as sugar, propylene glycol, salt, and sodium metabisulfite. Some countries in South East Asia use special coconut mutant called Kopyor (in Indonesian) or macapuno (in Philippines) as a dessert drinks.
NUTRITION
Per 100 gram serving with 354 calories, raw coconut meat supplies a high amount of total fat (33 grams), especially saturated fat (89% of total fat) and carbohydrates (24 grams) (table). Micronutrients in significant content include the dietary minerals, manganese, iron, phosphorus and zinc (table).
COCONUT WATER
Coconut water serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during its nuclear phase of development. Later, the endosperm matures and deposits onto the coconut rind during the cellular phase. It is consumed throughout the humid tropics, and has been introduced into the retail market as a processed sports drink. Mature fruits have significantly less liquid than young, immature coconuts, barring spoilage. Coconut water can be fermented to produce coconut vinegar.
Per 100 gram (100 ml) serving, coconut water contains 19 calories and no significant content of essential nutrients.
COCONUT MILK
Coconut milk, not to be confused with coconut water, is obtained primarily by extracting juice by pressing the grated coconut white kernel or by passing hot water or milk through grated coconut, which extracts the oil and aromatic compounds. It has a total fat content of 24%, most of which (89%) is saturated fat, with lauric acid as a major fatty acid. When refrigerated and left to set, coconut cream will rise to the top and separate from the milk. The milk can be used to produce virgin coconut oil by controlled heating and removal of the oil fraction.
A protein-rich powder can be processed from coconut milk following centrifugation, separation and spray drying.
COCONUT OIL
Another byproduct of the coconut is coconut oil. It is commonly used in cooking, especially for frying. It can be used in liquid form as would other vegetable oils, or in solid form as would butter or lard.
TODDY AND NECTAR
The sap derived from incising the flower clusters of the coconut is drunk as neera, also known as toddy or tuba (Philippines), tuak (Indonesia and Malaysia) or karewe (fresh and not fermented, collected twice a day, for breakfast and dinner) in Kiribati. When left to ferment on its own, it becomes palm wine. Palm wine is distilled to produce arrack. In the Philippines, this alcoholic drink is called lambanog or "coconut vodka".
The sap can be reduced by boiling to create a sweet syrup or candy such as te kamamai in Kiribati or dhiyaa hakuru and addu bondi in the Maldives. It can be reduced further to yield coconut sugar also referred to as palm sugar or jaggery. A young, well-maintained tree can produce around 300 liters of toddy per year, while a 40-year-old tree may yield around 400 liters.
HEART OF PALM AND COCONUT SPROUT
Apical buds of adult plants are edible, and are known as "palm cabbage" or heart of palm. They are considered a rare delicacy, as harvesting the buds kills the palms. Hearts of palm are eaten in salads, sometimes called "millionaire's salad". Newly germinated coconuts contain an edible fluff of marshmallow-like consistency called coconut sprout, produced as the endosperm nourishes the developing embryo.
INDONESIA
Coconut is an indispensable ingredient in Indonesian cooking. Coconut meat, coconut milk and coconut water are often used in main courses, desserts and soups throughout the archipelago. In the island of Sumatra, the famous Rendang, the traditional beef stew from West Sumatra, chunks of beef are cooked in coconut milk along with other spices for hours until thickened. In Jakarta, "Soto Babat" or beef tripe soup also uses coconut milk. In the island of Java, the sweet and savoury "Tempe Bacem" is made by cooking tempeh with coconut water, coconut sugar and other spices until thickened. "Klapertart" is the famous Dutch-influenced dessert from Manado, North Celebes, that uses young coconut meat and coconut milk. In 2010, Indonesia increased its coconut production. It is now the world's second largest producer of coconuts. The gross production was 15 million tonnes. A sprouting coconut seed is the logo for Gerakan Pramuka Indonesia, the Indonesian Scouting organization. It can be seen on all the scouting paraphernalia that elementary (SMA) school children wear as well as on the scouting pins and flags.
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is the world's largest producer of coconuts; the production of coconuts plays an important role in the economy. Coconuts in the Philippines are usually used in making main dishes, refreshments and desserts. Coconut juice is also a popular drink in the country. In the Philippines, particularly Cebu, rice is wrapped in coconut leaves for cooking and subsequent storage; these packets are called puso. Coconut milk, known as gata, and grated coconut flakes are used in the preparation of dishes such as laing, ginataan, bibingka, ube halaya, pitsi-pitsi, palitaw, buko and coconut pie. Coconut jam is made by mixing muscovado sugar with coconut milk. Coconut sport fruits are also harvested. One such variety of coconut is known as macapuno. Its meat is sweetened, cut into strands and sold in glass jars as coconut strings, sometimes labeled as "gelatinous mutant coconut". Coconut water can be fermented to make a different product - nata de coco (coconut gel).
VIETNAM
In Vietnam, coconut is grown abundantly across Central and Southern Vietnam, and especially in Bến Tre Province, often called the "land of the coconut". It is used to make coconut candy, caramel, and jelly. Coconut juice and coconut milk are used, especially in Vietnam's southern style of cooking, including kho, chè and curry (cà ri).
INDIA
In southern India, most common way of cooking vegetables is to add grated coconut and then steam them with spices fried in oil. People from southern India also make chutney, which involves grinding the coconut with salt, chillies, and whole spices. Uruttu chammanthi (granulated chutney) is eaten with rice or kanji (rice gruel). It is also invariably the main side dish served with idli, vadai, and dosai. Coconut ground with spices is also mixed in sambar and other various lunch dishes for extra taste. Dishes garnished with grated coconut are generally referred to as poduthol in North Malabar and thoran in rest of Kerala. Puttu is a culinary delicacy of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in which layers of coconut alternate with layers of powdered rice, all of which fit into a bamboo stalk. Recently, this has been replaced with a steel or aluminium tube, which is then steamed over a pot. Coconut (Tamil: தேங்காய்) is regularly broken in the middle-class families in Tamil Nadu for food. Coconut meat can be eaten as a snack sweetened with jaggery or molasses. In Karnataka sweets are prepared using coconut and dry coconut "copra"., Like Kaie Obattu, Kobri mitai etc.
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