Disappointing Discoveries

[heidih]

Fruits mentioned above reminded me of dragon fruit. It was all in food print but not available here to me 20 years ago. So of course when I saw it at Granville Public Market on Granville Island in  Vancouver BC. I went for it despite the price. Probably not ripe or the best variety - boring. Sure looked cool though. Today I see kids in the mainstream market yank their mom's top and say please? because of the otherworldly look and name.  

[heidih]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Same with me and passion fruit. I remember exactly where I saw the flowers first and thought (still think) they were so beautiful. Although I like the fruit, it pales beside the flowers.

 

Yes the flowers are something but when I first tasted the fruit in Australia I thought "no passion here". (I do know the passion adjective is religious and not lustful) We have a local naturalized variety with gorgeous blooms but the fruit is not crave worthy - it just massively attracts the beautiful orange Gulf Fritillary butterfly. https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2014/09/02/plant-purple-passionflower-vine-for-gulf-fritillary-butterfly/ I've grown it. And I worked with a botanist who is passionate about them - he even went on explorations in South America to look for new ones. BUT one day at a flea market in Ventura (hello @blue_dolphin) a vendor had a bag full of them for cheap. As we drove back down to L.A. in the heat we were overcome by the floral fragrance and pulled over to sample. As with many things I suppose an initial poor experience might put one off but there may be a reason others like the item. 

[weinoo]

12 hours ago, cdh said:

Agree that uni has not done it for me in my experiences with it.  Iodine and salt, but not in the nice way scotch pulls that combo off in, say, Talisker.  Love oysters.  Turkish delight has always been meh in my experience.  I've had my socks blown off by fresh white truffles.  Black truffles never compared.  Sheng Puehr tea is never as ethereal as its proponents seem to believe.  

Truffles, like uni, depend so greatly on how fresh they are, to say nothing of what variety one might be dealing with.

 

And then, how that variety is put to use.

 

Truffle oil always ought to be shown the door.

 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Truffle oil always ought to be shown the door.

 

 

It should never be brought in the door.

[SLB]

It turns out that fruitcake can be one of the most wondrously wonderful things on earth.

 

But that first slice I had, when I was something like 8?  I think one of my aunties had sent it. 

 

People.  It was an abomination on the LORD.  And the revulsion stuck with me for DECADES.

[heidih]

35 minutes ago, SLB said:

It turns out that fruitcake can be one of the most wondrously wonderful things on earth.

 

But that first slice I had, when I was something like 8?  I think one of my aunties had sent it. 

 

People.  It was an abomination on the LORD.  And the revulsion stuck with me for DECADES.

Yes I always wanted to try it because it looked so jewel studded. Ick  - a cruel deception I thought for a long time.. Until I made a Panamanian style one for my Panamanian - we stretched it out for as long as we could.- so good.

[weinoo]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

Truffle oil always ought to be shown the door.

 

4 hours ago, ElsieD said:

It should never be brought in the door.

 

If only I could do the ordering for restaurants using it.  

 

I do request no truffle oil on whatever they might be thinking of putting it atop or in.

[kayb]

On 11/11/2022 at 11:37 AM, SLB said:

It turns out that fruitcake can be one of the most wondrously wonderful things on earth.

 

But that first slice I had, when I was something like 8?  I think one of my aunties had sent it. 

 

People.  It was an abomination on the LORD.  And the revulsion stuck with me for DECADES.

I once determined I would make Eudora Welty’s White Fruitcake, from the Jackson Junior League’s cookbook, for Christmas.

 

iIt was awful. Gummy. Pasty.

 

I froze the loaves, sliced them thin, and baked them again.

 

Made damned fine biscotti.

Edited November 13, 2022 by kayb (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

36 minutes ago, kayb said:

I once determined I would make Eudora Welty’s White Fruitcake, from the Jackson Junior League’s cookbook, for Christmas.

 

iIt was awful. Gummy. Pasty.

 

I froze the loaves, sliced them thin, and baked them again.

 

Made damned fine biscotti.

 

Why I live at the post office.

 

[Katie Meadow]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Why I live at the post office.

 

Exactly. No gummy cake there unless it's inside a mailing box. 

[cdh]

13 hours ago, kayb said:

I once determined I would make Eudora Welty’s White Fruitcake, from the Jackson Junior League’s cookbook, for Christmas.

 

iIt was awful. Gummy. Pasty.

 

I froze the loaves, sliced them thin, and baked them again.

 

Made damned fine biscotti.

Sounds like one of the kind of fruitcakes my mother liked to wrap in cheesecloth, douse in rum, and age for a year or two in a cookie tin... 

Edited November 13, 2022 by cdh (log)

[Kim Shook]

Truffles (the fungal variety).  I can't bear the stink of them.  If someone at my table has them on a dish, I have a very hard time eating my meal.  I heard about truffles LONG before I tasted/smelled them.  I assumed I would love them based on how prized they seemed to be.  I was wrong.  

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Truffles (the fungal variety).  I can't bear the stink of them.  If someone at my table has them on a dish, I have a very hard time eating my meal.  I heard about truffles LONG before I tasted/smelled them.  I assumed I would love them based on how prized they seemed to be.  I was wrong.  

Do you hate caviar too? If so you are a very cheap date.

[Kim Shook]

49 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Do you hate caviar too? If so you are a very cheap date.

Honestly, I don't know for sure.  The only caviar I've ever had was cheap, grocery store caviar.  I've always wondered if I'd like the good stuff.  The descriptions of it that I've read sound good.  

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Honestly, I don't know for sure.  The only caviar I've ever had was cheap, grocery store caviar.  I've always wondered if I'd like the good stuff.  The descriptions of it that I've read sound good.  

I like the cheap stuff....I really wonder what the expensive stuff tastes like.  So, put me in the cheap date category too....I mean, I drink boxed wine....

[Kim Shook]

10 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I like the cheap stuff....I really wonder what the expensive stuff tastes like.  So, put me in the cheap date category too....I mean, I drink boxed wine....

And if the restaurant serves Mt. Dew, I'm even cheaper!  Our Chinese place serves Mt. Dew.  Mr. Kim says that I asked for it so often they just started carrying it.  

[heidih]

4 hours ago, Shelby said:

I like the cheap stuff....I really wonder what the expensive stuff tastes like.  So, put me in the cheap date category too....I mean, I drink boxed wine....

Hope not pay wall - great history of Franzia  Fascinating   https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/drink-up

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

I like the cheap stuff....I really wonder what the expensive stuff tastes like.  So, put me in the cheap date category too....I mean, I drink boxed wine....

 

I'd drink boxed wine if I were able to carry a box home.  Best I can manage* in one trip is a liter and a half of Soave and a bottle of Wray & Nephew Overproof.

 

 

*like tonight

 

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

On 11/10/2022 at 7:01 PM, liuzhou said:

 

Same with me and passion fruit. I remember exactly where I saw the flowers first and thought (still think) they were so beautiful. Although I like the fruit, it pales beside the flowers.

 

We have a couple of passionfruit vines and it's interesting to watch the bees gather pollen. They have to go pretty far into the flower to collect the pollen, which gets all over their bodies. They then hover in the air, using their front legs to brush the pollen on to their pollen baskets (their rear legs), and then go back for more. I wonder what passionfruit honey tastes like? These probably are wild bees because I doubt there is anyone in our neighborhood with hives, so I'll never know. And I wonder how those gorgeous flowers evolved? Seems like a lot of extra decoration for an admittedly simple process of pollination.