Why is the inside of a coconut called meat?

All nuts.

I’ve never heard it being referred to as meat before, just flesh…
And flesh is used for a lot of fruit too, like peaches for instance.

@gailcalled All nuts? Is it because of their protein then?

I think I’ve heard tomatoes referred to as “meaty”.

The more solid part of a fruit or vegetable as opposed to the liquid, would be called meat. Tomatoes, for example, have so much juice and the more solid part may be called the meat.

The edible part of an avocado is sometimes called the meat.

Etymologically, the older forms of the word referred to all foodstuffs, but it narrowed to the sense of animal flesh in the 14th century. For some reason, it seems less strange to talk about the “flesh” of a peach or a melon, even though “flesh” has a more carnal etymology then “meat” does.

The meat of the coconut is the meat of the matter.

A beefsteak tomato is actuall a fruit. Oh well.

So wait…. a tomato is now a fruit, a vegetable, AND a meat? I gotta get more of those in my diet.

Nut meats.

Meat. See sense 2.

Because of its texture, I would guess.

To contrast it to the milk or liquid inside the coconut.
The only kosher Jews can eat milk and meat at the same meal?

Beans are refered to as meat.

As a matter of fact, in the Bible, you will find a demand in the Old Testament for a Meat Offering. This did not refer to flesh as meat, but vegetable, fruit, and bean.

One learns something new every day.

Great question! This has puzzled me for some time, too. Coconut cream makes sense to me, but I’ve also had trouble accepting coconut milk, as it is really more like a sweet water.

@wallabies you obviously are not vegan. My s/o tries to be and as a concession to him I have largely given up milk in cereal and coffee and substituted coconut milk [until I get fed up and pour a good healthy slug of Bailey’s in my coffee].

@anartist: I used to use skim milk, which was thin and slightly bluish, in my cereal before I gave up dairy (most of the time.) Now I use rice milk, which is thin and slightly bluish and equally as bland.

I also use it in tea.

Almond milk isn’t bad either although it has a slightly shorter shelf life than the rice stuff.