PrintTried Something New and Different?
Was it something you had never heard of, or something you just never had the opportunity to try, or something you had purposely avoided for one reason or another? How was the experience? Would you eat IT again?
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15 Comments:
Every time I see an unfamiliar fruit or veggie, I have to buy it, even if I don't know what to do with it. Some have been more successful than others. There's a broccoli-like thing they're calling "Aspiration" that was fair. I'd rather have broccoli.
Fiddlehead ferns were good, but probably not worth the time it took to clean them.
I'm also a sucker for different type of grains and beans. Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to cooking them, but with things like rice or lentils or dried beans, it's not like it's going to go bad quickly.
I've got a love-hate relationship with mangoes. Sometimes I buy them and they're wonderful, and sometimes they're not so good. Every time I buy one, I wonder if I'll like it, and I wonder if it's the degree of ripeness or what that makes me so wishy-washy about them. But I'll still buy them once in a while, just to see if I get a good one.
dbcurrie at 12:42AM on 04/15/08
Hi Perky!
Lentils....I know...such a simple ingredient too!
It's odd that I never really had lentils much in my life, considering my paternal grandfather was off the boat from Sicily....but they weren't in the family repetoire. I hadn't really enjoyed them until I met my husband, who loves lentils. I was bound & determined to learn to cook them...and now we enjoy lentil soup w/sausage often in the winter. This summer I plan to try some cold salads with lentils to see if I like that too!
mepolo at 8:36AM on 04/15/08
cold lentil salad with scallions, tomatoes & green peppers lots of fresh parsley! Yummy on a hot summer day!
joanpieroni2 at 9:20AM on 04/15/08
I have never used fennel (knowingly) in any of my recipes, I have roasted it thats as far as my usage goes. I recently roasted it along with a glut of vine tomatoes I had, and made it into a wonderful soup, the fennel added a delicious spiciness that worked wonders on the soup.
TheManchesterKitchen at 9:51AM on 04/15/08
I tried mango for the first time a few years ago and fell in love.
I bought a pomegranate and had absolutely no idea what to do with it. It is beautiful, but I didn't know if the seeds were edible or were to be thrown out. I should have looked it up. I still don't know. I drink pomegranate juice all the time and love it, but I obviously don't make it myself.
I had lentil and andouille sausage soup on a cruise ship about 10 years ago. I had never tasted either. Now, it's my favorite soup.
I truly love trying new ingredients and dishes. There aren't too many foods I haven't liked in the right preparation.
I'm surprised how many of us have mentioned lentils. Wonder why?
PerkyMac at 8:01PM on 04/15/08
Great question, PerkyMac!
I'm allergic to lentils! Bummer.
I had never had salsify before when I saw it on the menu at Otto in NYC. I tried it and really liked it! I also ate "rabo de toro" (yes, that's bull tail) in Spain once -- not my favorite, but I'm glad I tried it.
Generally I'm in the "I'll try anything once" camp. I rarely regret it -- even if I don't like it, I'm usually happy to have at least tried.
CookiePie at 8:48PM on 04/15/08
@CookiePie.........my sentiments exactly. I hate when people turn up their nose at something because they think they "might" not like it. Unless it looks and smells like _____ (you can fill in that blank), or you know you're allergic or pregnant, at least taste it if you possibly can.
Some of my favorite foods are things that some people haven't ever tried, but are positive they'd hate, like liver (beef calf and chicken), clams, scrapple, etc.
I'd also add that tastes change and you might like something now that you didn't like as a child, or maybe it wasn't cooked right and it could now be your favorite.
PerkyMac at 9:01PM on 04/15/08
I usually do sunny-side up eggs for breakfast with fresh made bacon bits on top for some added flavor on weekends or if I'm sick (days I don't go to school). I stayed in because of a fever, but to my horror, there was no bacon today in the fridge.
I took a few slices of Genoa salami, crisped those up in a hot pan, just as I would bacon, except these were paper thin slices. They were amazing. rounds of porcine goodness with a better crunch than a potato chip.
Anyways, I didn't make eggs, I had a breakfast of crispy salami chips.
@Perky: My background has a whole lot of lentils going on (Indian). Even people with an aversion to "stinky" Indian food love Dal Makhani. It's black lentil soup with a few kidney beans thrown in, served with a swirl of cream and/or butter. It's pretty mild, but earthy, a perfect filling, vegetarian dinner served with a few slices of a baguette.
deepitbhatia at 10:50PM on 04/18/08
@deepitbhatia........I remember cooking deli meat and thoroughly enjoying the taste and crispiness. Works in lots of recipes.
Your soup sounds yummy, and so does the baguette. Is there a perfect beverage to accompany it? I'm thinking beer. Just curious.
PerkyMac at 10:57PM on 04/18/08
last summer i bought a horned melon from a stand at the greenmarket. it was so delicious {a tart, ultra juicy cucumber} that i went back and whined and moaned for the rest of the summer, hoping they would bring some more, but they never did.
cybercita at 11:17PM on 04/18/08
Iol I don't know about the beer part, I'm still underage, but it is pretty earthy, so the beer will probably want to stand up to that.
deepitbhatia at 10:24PM on 04/19/08
I'm a pretty adventurous eater, especially considering that I refused to eat pretty much everything when I was little:-). I definitely would try different foods, although still not everything (but at least if I don't eat something, it's because I did try and didn't like)). I do try things I dislike from time to time (other than beets - these I gave up on for good), because as Perky noted correctly, tastes change and there are plenty of things I love now, that I wouldn't even look at 10 years ago. This is how I found out I didn't really hate cottage cheese a couple of years ago - and I couldn't stomach it when I was little. Now I absolutely love cottage cheese, and even make my own (thanks to Alton Brown).
Recently, I cooked quinoa - it's not new to me, but it was the first time ever my husband tried it, and he was very excited - "wow, I love quinoa", he exclaimed after trying a spoonful, which was very rewarding since he was convinced he hated it!
Another thing that's relatively recent - this year I bought a butternut squash for the first time - it was used to make a butternut squash soup with sausage and sage, an it instantly became our favourite soup this winter.
Other than that, every time I go to our Asian Supermarket, I pick up something I'm unfamiliar with, be it a sauce, a spice, a grain mix or anything else. Usually, the experience is good and we end up going back for more. Although I also found out that am not a fan of pickled mango;-).
brooke29 at 11:19PM on 04/19/08
@brooke29: hmm, is it the indian style pickled mango or something else i'm totally unaware of? I thoroughly enjoy pickled mango with my parathas, daal, or aloo gobi. Strictly as a condiment though, it is pretty fierce stuff, and that's coming from someone who spent 9 years of their childhood in india.
If you do want mangos with a kick, try slices of ripe, juicy mango with sriracha sauce. The sweet, salty, sour and hot intermingle beautifully.
deepitbhatia at 10:24PM on 04/20/08
@deepitbhatia - it was actually Korean, and it looked very pretty in the jar:-) But it tasted as if I swallowed 3 fire-breathing dragons with that little bite I took, so I was quite certain I wasn't going for more. I do have 2 fresh mangoes with no particular plans attached, so I just might try your suggestion, it sounds really good!
brooke29 at 11:41PM on 04/20/08
Long time lurker but this is my first post on the forum.
Anyway, I thought this thread would be a good first post since I went to an Eritrean restaurant last night, a country next to Ethiopia.
The food was all served on massive flat breads that were more like delicious fluffy pancakes. It was all eaten with your right hand. We started with delicious spinach rolls and a spicy samosa style pastry. This was followed by a huge dish filled with spicy lamb curry, a chicken dish and a variety of vegetables dishes.
It was a fantastic family run restaurant and I will definitely be going back. has anyone else had any interesting African themed meals?
wicheda at 5:23AM on 04/21/08