If it's the pure oil used in cooking in a deep blue bottle or jar, that is made from dried coconut (copra) which is then grated, ground and boiled in water and the oil taken off. It can have a naturally 'smoke like' scent and flavour as it is dried either in a kiln, in the sun or by smoking. I find the Parachute brand to be very coconutty and slightly pale brown, I use it in cooking as well as on my skin and sometimes my hair. In the UK it is generally solid so I heat the bottle gently and pour it into a wide necked jar for storage which makes it easier to remove only what I want each time

I had a discussion with someone from the spices of india website (UK food suppliers) about which is the best coconut oil for cooking with as they sell several different brands, and they replied that Parachute is in their opinion the best! I am not surprised since one of the others I buy which I use to make my soap seems to be deoderised and I wouldn't really want to cook with it as it has no scent or flavour. [...]