New Taste Sensations in 2009

[jsmeeker]

eGullet society members are a diverse bunch. We love food. We love to eat. We eat a huge variety of things. But there is always something new out there. I many cases, it's something new to you. A new type of ethinc cuisine. Or a new type of animal or vegetable you've neve had. Or maybe it's some sort of method of preparing something that you have never experienced.

In 2009, what new taste sensations did you have?

Here are some of mine

Dry aged beef that was REALLY aged. 8 months aged, to be exact. Very tasting. Quite a bit different than a normal steak. It had a quality to it that was similar to a cured ham. Also, had some cheesy note to it. At the same meal, lardo was served with the bread. (it was whipped up and was used like you would use butter). Crazy good.

Beets. I am trying to recall exactly where I had these. It was recent, but I am not sure if it was the other weekend at a place in Dallas or if it was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. In any case, I recall them being fresh. And the variety wasn't deep red. More like a deep pink color. I liked them.

Squab. Had this the other weekend at a place in Dallas. I had never had it before and when I saw it on the menu, I decided to try it. It's good. Tastes like chcicken? No. Tastes more like duck. I love duck.

Oh, and finnally, true Central Texas style BBQ. I always liked BBQ. But the stuff I had down in Lockhart and Luling totally changed my notion of what BBQ should be like. This was my best new taste sensation for 2009.

[Chris Amirault]

Del Maguey mezcal, Aleppo pepper, Khmer salmon head soup, octopus confit, Smith & Cross rum.

[Anna N]

Rather pedestrian here but I cooked celeriac, kohlrabi and parsley root for the first time and enjoyed them. Tried really, really hard to like dried beans and lentils but they won't soon make it onto my menu rotation.

[haresfur]

Tim Tams and Hobnobs

[heidih]

Roasted pork neck bones, kabocha and butternut squashes simply cooked at home, homemade caramelized onion and garlic, and shirataki noodles (texture more than taste)

[CKatCook]

Broccoli rabe, homemade sausage, home smoked bacon, homemade black pepper pasta, beef bourgion, homemade bolognase, homemade puff pastry.

All basic stuff, but was new to me!

[Peter the eater]

Jeff, my favourite new taste in 2009 was Saint Agur Blue, hands down.

[Tri2Cook]

I didn't try a lot of new things. I'm not particularly proud of that but it's the way things went this year. One new taste sensation for me (but apparently street vendors have been doing it forever in Mexico so I guess I'm just behind the curve) that stood out was the burnt milk gelato from Francisco Migoya's Frozen Desserts. Burnt milk sounds just about as unappealing as something could sound to me but it's an incredible and complex flavor if you take the time to really taste it and I've been playing with other ways to use it since.

[jsmeeker]

Jeff, my favourite new taste in 2009 was Saint Agur Blue, hands down.

Is that a cheese?

[KD1191]

Jeff, my favourite new taste in 2009 was Saint Agur Blue, hands down.

Is that a cheese?

It sure is.

As far as cooking at home, I've fallen in love with quinoa this year...and renewed my life-long love of beets and cauliflower.

On the dining out front, revelatory oysters at The Publican made me question my belief that I have to wait for trips to the coasts to get 1st rate seafood.

[lesliec]

Horchata in Spain earlier in the year. Really good after a hot wander around Barcelona, and non-alcoholic to boot (but I bet I could come up with an interesting cocktail based on it ...).

Confit turkey legs as part of Christmas dinner (this recipe - the brined breast was good too).

'Fake peanuts' (cacahuetes mimeticos) at elBulli. The menu (and service) had a few misses, but these were a major hit. I'm working at my second attempt at making them as we speak, but the *#$%^ won't freeze hard enough to come out of their moulds.

And on Christmas Eve my Sous Vide Magic controller arrived, just in time for me to rush out and get a rice cooker. Much experimentation follows ...

Have a tasty 2010, people.

[Kerry Beal]

2009 was the year of discovery for thai red curry - which I have happily made my own.

[Doodad]

Two things for me.

Rutabagas. I had never had them for some reason. Great vegetable.

But, the real kicker was coriander chutney. Holy cow, I could (and did) eat that with a spoon.

[Prawncrackers]

1. My own homemade pasta, why it's taken me so long I don't know. Such a simple thing to do.

2. Ox cheeks eaten for the first time at Purnells restaurant here in Brum. Then in the past few weeks cooking with them. The best "cheap cut" of beef there is.

3. Norwegian sea urchin roe scooped straight out of their shells - the best yet that I've tasted.

4. The last Badami mango of the season blew me away. Better than the Alphonso and Kesar this year, have they always been this good? I only started to buy them because the other two were past their peak. Then all of a sudden it was gone too. Can't wait to try them again in 2010.

5. Dessert wines - sauternes and jurancon. I've been pretty apathetic and sometimes downright dismissive of wines and in particular wine-bores all my life. But, you know, er, I quite like, these dessert wines.

[rooftop1000]

Chicken livers, deep fried Salmon, and Chicago style Hot dogs. All on one vacation.

tracey

[TimmDavis]

For me it was Wild Boar Mole and Lamb Neck stew.

[docsconz]

I got into New Orleans a little bit, so I would include real andouille and tasso, raw peanuts freshly fried, Acme grilled oysters and soft-shell shrimp (at Coquette) for new to me taste sensations. Black garlic was an ingredient that I only became aware of in 2009, though I first had it in 2008. Believe it or not, I had never actually eaten goose before 2009, though I had eaten goose products such as foie gras, goose fat and goose eggs.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Really good Chinese peanut oil, piment d'Espelette, my first wild yeast sourdough starter.

Not a flavor, but Japanese knife sharpening has definitely allowed me to create some new textures.

[smallworld]

Fennel. Nobody in my family back home likes it and I've never seen it here in Japan. But on a visit home this summer I got curious so bought and grilled some, and it was lovely. Alas I've yet to meet a Japanese who enjoyed anise-type flavours so I doubt I'll ever be able to find fennel here, let alone get my husband to eat it.

And raw oysters. I've always loved them cooked but was never able to eat them raw until we were invited up to Hokkaido to visit my brother-in-law this spring. He took us to Akkeshi, a place famed for its oysters, and visited an oyster monger's, where we watched the monger expertly shuck a few and hand us one each to sample. I was dreading having to gulp mine down and pretend pretend it was good but when the brine hit my tongue something magic happened I fell in love.

BIL bought 60 large ones, and that night we had an oyster orgy, trying them raw, grilled in the shell over charcoal, steamed in sake, and in soup. I swear to god I could have eaten all 60 of them myself.

[Hiroyuki]

Now, I remember. Fresh, alum-free uni, which was sweet and creamy, which was quite different from the type of uni readily available in any supermarket in Japan, which is often bitter and smelly.

[kayb]

Quinoa. Couscous (it had somehow escaped my notice; I'm not certain how). Cured Spanish chorizo (my God, that's wonderful stuff). Dried okra (think okra-flavored popcorn). I know there was more, but these come to mind.

[heidih]

Quinoa. Couscous (it had somehow escaped my notice; I'm not certain how). Cured Spanish chorizo (my God, that's wonderful stuff). Dried okra (think okra-flavored popcorn). I know there was more, but these come to mind.

Can you give us a source for that dried okra?

[kayb]

Quinoa. Couscous (it had somehow escaped my notice; I'm not certain how). Cured Spanish chorizo (my God, that's wonderful stuff). Dried okra (think okra-flavored popcorn). I know there was more, but these come to mind.

Can you give us a source for that dried okra?

I got mine at Fresh Market, in the section where they have all the snacks and trail mixes and such. I really don't remember looking at the original source. I bought it because it was an "I'll be damned, I've got to try that" moment. Pretty tasty!

[Bootsie]

I was doing a little digging around for some old-school recipes and came across Watercress Soup. Which is awesome. And it sparked an inspiration. Herb Soups? Oh yes, indeedy, feed the needy. I'm hooked. I made an Arugula Cream soup with arugula, red onion, fresh grated parm, and cream. Put it in the blender and passed it through a chinois. It's yummy. Try it out.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Bootsie (log)