New foods 2007

I intend to add to this entry as I go along, so I'll have something like a record for the year. Two concepts here: seriously new preparations, and new ingredients.

Ingredients/kinds of food:

Jan. 8: Dragon fruit, dried. A purple such that, handed it without knowing what it was, I guessed beetroot. A bit sweet, no other strong flavor, I wasn't sure whether I liked it. Still not sure after a few bites, I went back to my hot chocolate.

July 6: A Chinese vegetable, stir-fried, at my aunt's house. Unfortunately, there was nobody there who knew the English name of it, but I guessed at "melon" and the person who cooked it thought that might be right. The English name probably includes "melon," it had pale green flesh, and was not at all bitter. Maybe winter melon?

September 9: Mangosteens, fresh. Quite tasty. These are close to if not absolutely unavailable in the United States (for legal reasons to do with concerns about plant diseases), though jonsinger says the frozen ones are reasonably tasty. He and other people at the get-together said the canned ones are flavorless.

sept. 9: Green Darjeeling tea isn't quite a new thing, but rather different from the black Darjeelings I'm used to. Quite nice; I didn't note which specific estate that one was from (there were several tins sitting near the teapot), but I drank several cups of it. And slept without trouble.

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Preparations/recipes:

Jan. 4: The "oriental omelette" at Byblos (Montreal), which was effectively scrambled eggs with cinnamon, and reminded me of cinnamon toast. Odd; I ate about 2/3 of it.
Jan. 8: Dried navel orange slice. Good.

[I don't think I've missed recording things of this sort between January and late June, but it's possible.]

June 25: Pickled ginger as a stir-fry ingredient.

September 4: Black pudding (I think this is new to me), just a taste as part of Pied de Cochon's cochonaille plate. Not my thing, the texture failed to delight, a spicy aftertaste that surprised me.

Sept. 6: Crispy spinach, a light, somewhat sweet thing that looked like folded paper, and had a texture that reminded me more of nori than of any other vegetable I could think of--but I've had edible rice paper that is in the same area.

Sept. 15: Blueberry-violet jam (from the Jardin Botanique). Mostly blueberry, a hint of something else, nice, would be nicer if thicker.

Nov. 21: Fresh dragon fruit

New foods 2007

I intend to add to this entry as I go along, so I'll have something like a record for the year. Two concepts here: seriously new preparations, and new ingredients.

Ingredients/kinds of food:

Jan. 8: Dragon fruit, dried. A purple such that, handed it without knowing what it was, I guessed beetroot. A bit sweet, no other strong flavor, I wasn't sure whether I liked it. Still not sure after a few bites, I went back to my hot chocolate.

July 6: A Chinese vegetable, stir-fried, at my aunt's house. Unfortunately, there was nobody there who knew the English name of it, but I guessed at "melon" and the person who cooked it thought that might be right. The English name probably includes "melon," it had pale green flesh, and was not at all bitter. Maybe winter melon?

September 9: Mangosteens, fresh. Quite tasty. These are close to if not absolutely unavailable in the United States (for legal reasons to do with concerns about plant diseases), though jonsinger says the frozen ones are reasonably tasty. He and other people at the get-together said the canned ones are flavorless.

sept. 9: Green Darjeeling tea isn't quite a new thing, but rather different from the black Darjeelings I'm used to. Quite nice; I didn't note which specific estate that one was from (there were several tins sitting near the teapot), but I drank several cups of it. And slept without trouble.

---

Preparations/recipes:

Jan. 4: The "oriental omelette" at Byblos (Montreal), which was effectively scrambled eggs with cinnamon, and reminded me of cinnamon toast. Odd; I ate about 2/3 of it.
Jan. 8: Dried navel orange slice. Good.

[I don't think I've missed recording things of this sort between January and late June, but it's possible.]

June 25: Pickled ginger as a stir-fry ingredient.

September 4: Black pudding (I think this is new to me), just a taste as part of Pied de Cochon's cochonaille plate. Not my thing, the texture failed to delight, a spicy aftertaste that surprised me.

Sept. 6: Crispy spinach, a light, somewhat sweet thing that looked like folded paper, and had a texture that reminded me more of nori than of any other vegetable I could think of--but I've had edible rice paper that is in the same area.

Sept. 15: Blueberry-violet jam (from the Jardin Botanique). Mostly blueberry, a hint of something else, nice, would be nicer if thicker.

Nov. 21: Fresh dragon fruit

Out and about (including gym)

I worked out the gym today, for the first time since before I went to Montreal for New Year's (I'd done a moderate amount of walking, a few squats, and not enough stretching in the interim). I had expected it to be more crowded, given the nature of New Year's resolutions; I wonder if its being an overcast Monday morning kept people in.

After working out, I met my friend L. in Chinatown for lunch. We wandered a bit after lunch: we both bought produce, and I got a ginger ice cream cone. Then we took a bus across the Manhattan Bridge, and another further into Brooklyn, where we discovered that the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is closed on Mondays. It was a nice day for a walk, though, so we walked along the edge of the garden back to Grand Army Plaza, then took a train to downtown Brooklyn, where we shopped for assorted useful things (dried fruit, oats, cookies, pate, tea), and talked a while longer. We'd not seen each other in too long, and it was good to catch up, and to have a bright, mild (for January, not compared to Saturday) afternoon to do it in.

( gym numbers )

Out and about (including gym)

I worked out the gym today, for the first time since before I went to Montreal for New Year's (I'd done a moderate amount of walking, a few squats, and not enough stretching in the interim). I had expected it to be more crowded, given the nature of New Year's resolutions; I wonder if its being an overcast Monday morning kept people in.

After working out, I met my friend L. in Chinatown for lunch. We wandered a bit after lunch: we both bought produce, and I got a ginger ice cream cone. Then we took a bus across the Manhattan Bridge, and another further into Brooklyn, where we discovered that the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is closed on Mondays. It was a nice day for a walk, though, so we walked along the edge of the garden back to Grand Army Plaza, then took a train to downtown Brooklyn, where we shopped for assorted useful things (dried fruit, oats, cookies, pate, tea), and talked a while longer. We'd not seen each other in too long, and it was good to catch up, and to have a bright, mild (for January, not compared to Saturday) afternoon to do it in.

( gym numbers )