an elegant solution

In my previous life I worked in design research, obsessively trying to devise elegant solutions to complex problems. Old habits die hard, so it makes me happy every time I come across an elegant solution, especially in an unexpected place like in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Ok, this wasn't exactly as elegant a solution as the fly-in-the-urinal at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam* but it's pretty darn good.

I'm talking about a simple coconut cart I found in a strip mall just outside of San Jose last week. They sell coconut meat and coconut water. Instead of using a clunky and often unhygienic machete to lop off the top of a coconut to get to the sweet water inside, this little cart presents a lovely solution to the mess. The cart comes equipped with a lever and a sort of probe. Place a coconut under it, pull the lever, the probe goes in and drills a hole, with ease to boot. Take the coconut, invert it over this thingy that drains the water into a machine that instantaneously cools it. Now the refreshing coconut water can be poured and sold by the glass or in liter bottles. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

I did a little googling and found the company's website. It looks to my -no habla espanol- eyes that it's a homegrown technology, which is even more impressive. I wonder how much it cost to get one of these for my kitchen?

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*How elegant a solution was that fly in the urinal in Amsterdam? You decide. The airport had problems with jetlagged male travelers in the boys room who often have imprecise aim, hence the mess and stink, so they painted a tromp l'oeil of a fly inside each urinal. Boy sees fly, boy -instinctively I am told- aims for fly. Problem solved. How elegant is that?

Comments

[faustianbargain]

darling, are you joking? where will you get fresh young coconuts in the bay area?

[Leticia Tatsch]

This is rather common in Brazil, the very same technology. There are quite a few of these technologies here, to make common and old pratices more hygenic. Most likely this is an import from Brazil.

[B]

I wish I could aim at things when I pee.

Or have easy access to fresh coconut water. One or the other.

B
http://handtomouthkitchen.wordpress.com

[Casey]

Laughing so hard here about the fly-in-the-urinal that I just spit my morning tea.

[Erick E]

do the coconuts rotate atop the thingy?... would make for a great visual effect..one coconut would have COCO printed on it and the other one would say NUTS and when the timing of the rotation is just right it will spell COCONUTS.. =) okay I am shut-up now.. just an idea..

[Leticia Tatsch]

I found a link
http://www.cocoexpress.com.br/empresa/historicoesp.htm
It says this company was founded in Brazil, in the northern state of Amazonas in 1991. They have franchises all over South America, it seems.

In this url there should be an english version of the website, but it is broken.

[Colin]

It's true - I saw the fly and automatically aimed for it. There was really no thought involved, it was completely automatic. While traveling around Europe in February, my friend and I were constantly remarking about how Europeans were "light years ahead" of the rest of us on the other side of the pond. From the escalators on standby to save energy to the fly-in-the-urinal to the screens also in the urinals to prevent splatters...the list goes on and on, and I still see it almost everyday here in Paris.

Love your blog; keep up the great work!

[Tisha]

Coconut water served in a glass? Sacrilege. It tastes so much better when sipped directly out of a coconut with a straw, with a chunk of the shell as a spoon to scrape out the young meat after you've finished drinking.

It may not be hygienic, but I've never gotten sick from a coconut. (Other kinds of street food, that's a different story.)

[Tisha]

Coconut water served in a glass? Sacrilege. It tastes so much better when sipped directly out of a coconut with a straw, with a chunk of the shell as a spoon to scrape out the young meat after you've finished drinking.

It may not be hygienic, but I've never gotten sick from a coconut. (Other kinds of street food, that's a different story.)

[Sheila]

That lever device looks like a (fancy) version of a drill press - found in most hardware stores.

[Rasa Malaysia]

I think I read it somewhere about your previous job at company C...and I was like WOW! Can't imagine someone as sweet as you being in that profession, really! Salute. I guess life as a food blogger must be a lot more fun then before?!

[James]

So how exactly did you discover the fly in the urinal, Pim?

[R khooks]

What a great idea. Everytime I go to malaysia I can't stop drinking coconut juice. Never saw a neat device like that in Malaysia.

[Christopher]

I love hygienic food so mostly prefer to buy my food from ChuckeCheese.com, Restaurant.com at CouponAlbum..

[Yvonne]

In Jamaica you can get coconut water by the bottle or jug in the grocery store. I loved it, more convenient then the guy on the corner with a machete.