"ASmith1946" > wrote in message
...
> Recipes for coconut as well as almond macaroons were published in Eliza
> Leslie's "Directions for Cookery" (1837). Several other recipes include
> "cocoa-nut" as an ingredient so coconuts were available in Philadelphia by
this
> time. It would surprise me if they were not widely available at a much
earlier
> date, as they were readily available in the Caribbean.
>
> Andy Smith
>
> >Al though some might disagree, I'd put the US (and Australian) coconut
> >macaroon as an late 19th/early 20th century "invention" to utilize the
> >newly available processed coconut from the South Seas trade, sort of a
> >small change adjunct to the coconut oil business (and long predated by
the
> >almond macaroon).
> >
> >TMO

Thanks everyone for the input - it was of those curiosity and cats moments
<grin>.

Janet